The day after Compass announced its acquisition of Christie’s International Real Estate and @properties, Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California owner Aaron Kirman said his brand will be unchanged.
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The day after Compass announced its pending acquisition of Christie’s International Real Estate and @properties for $444 million, star broker Aaron Kirman went to Instagram to clarify the future of his brand.
Aaron Kirman | Credit: LinkedIn
“Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California will remain independent,” the post read. “The brand will not merge with Compass, and the Christie’s name and identity will remain unchanged. Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California remains 100 percent owned by Aaron Kirman.”
Kirman said Compass won’t have access to Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California’s affiliate services, brand, technology, marketing or auction house affiliation. The broker-owner also said the brokerage will retain its market exclusivity within its respective markets, and will not share its brand with Compass or any other local brokerage.
“Compass will not use the Christie’s International Real Estate brand,” the post added. “In line with the current strategy, Christie’s International Real Estate will continue to grow through partnerships with independent, luxury-focused brokerages like ours.”
The post, which was shared on Kirman’s and Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California’s profile, garnered mixed reviews from commenters. Some — primarily fellow broker-owners at other California-based brands — saw Kirman’s statement as proactive and bold. Meanwhile, a few others saw his statement as, at worst, unnecessarily combative toward Compass or, at best, plain confusing.
“This certainly doesn’t feel like a very politically friendly message or a ‘collaborate without ego’ conversation does it?” wrote LA-based Compass agent Tony Accardo. “As a Compass agent, I’m very excited about all this, and I’m sorry to see AK play defense on this.”
LA-based ACME founder, CEO and broker Courtney Poulos said Kirman raised more questions than answers, as she summarized The Real Deal’s coverage of the acquisition that surmised Compass acquired the brand to expand its private listing network amid debates over the National Association of Realtors’ Clear Cooperation Policy.
“If the TRD story is accurate, it was acquired to allow Compass to expand its pocket listings database,” she wrote. “That requires ‘one office’ under the National Association of Realtors. So how does that work if it’s remaining independent?”
Real estate broker and thought leader Glennda Baker stepped in to clarify the situation, noting that Kirman has total ownership of Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California and has the right to remain independent after the acquisition. Baker said many other Christie’s independents and franchises will be faced with the same decision as Kirman — a dilemma that will unfold into 2025.
“You are right to be confused,” Baker said. “The TRD article and most reporting does not address how the sale will impact Christie’s International Real Estate franchises. Many of Christie’s independents and franchises do not want to be absorbed by Compass. But $440 million is a lot of money to pay for [this] kind of use of the Christie’s name. I’ll be interested to see how this plays out in the real world of real estate.”
In a previous Inman report, Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said the acquisition is pending approval and is slated to close next year. In an investors call, Reffkin said the Christie’s International Real Estate, @properties and Compass brands would remain separate “for the foreseeable future.” Thad Wong and Mike Golden, the co-CEOs of @properties Christie’s International Real Estate, also said @properties’ northern California operation would become an independent brokerage “while maintaining its network affiliation.”
“Compass shares our commitment to enhance the real estate industry through technology, marketing, and exceptional service and to embrace the local, independent broker through the Christie’s International Real Estate and @properties brands,” Wong said.
“This is a very complementary union that respects our unique brands and empowers agents to provide an even better experience for the clients they serve,” Golden added in a statement.
In an interview with TRD, Kirman said the media at large failed to highlight the nuances of the deal, which is why he decided to make the post.
“I just felt that the media got the messaging wrong,” Kirman told TRD on Tuesday. “I felt that the media basically said that Compass had merged companies, which was not the case. The companies are separate and there’s really going to be no commingling of brands. I wanted to make it clear that we are independent and that our brand stands alone.”
Kirman said the decision to keep Christie’s International Real Estate Southern California independent is crucial to the brokerage’s growth, which has expanded to 200 agents across four offices. The brokerage’s latest recruiting win was the addition of star Compass agent Tomer Fridman, who joined Christie’s SOCAL in October. Fridman’s 12-person team also made the move, bringing $1 billion in listings with them.
Kirman said Compass’ proposed deal is part of a greater wave of consolidation in the industry, and many other broker-owners will soon face the same decision he has.
“It’s no secret that the brokerage business is a very challenging business,” he told TRD. “It’s no secret that the margins to the brokerage business are challenging and, at the end of the day, these brokerages are working for a lot less than they used to.”