(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
Berkshire Hathaway’s HomeServices of America has acquired Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Ambassador Real Estate as well as an ownership interest in Ambassador Title Services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, Ambassador Real Estate serves the Omaha, Lincoln, Council Bluffs, Fremont, and Dundee communities with 630 sales associates operating in five sales offices. In 2017, Ambassador closed more than $2.1 billion in sales volume.
Led by its president Vince Leisey, Ambassador Real Estate has experienced year-over-year market-share growth and is widely recognized for its progressive and collaborative culture. In 2017, the company was ranked in Entrepreneur Magazine and CultureIQ’s Top Company Cultures list as the 12th best company culture in the United States in the large-company category.
Leisey is among the real estate industry’s most recognized and charismatic leaders and is known for his inspirational leadership style and approach to driving employee and agent engagement and productivity through one-on-one coaching, teamwork, and communication. Along with his existing executive team and sales managers, he will continue to lead Ambassador Real Estate’s strategic planning and growth initiatives as well as manage the company’s day-to-day operations.
“I am thrilled to join HomeServices’ family of companies. When you combine the exceptional culture that is the core of Ambassador’s productivity and success with HomeServices’ commitment to delivering exceptional service to its buyers and sellers and its unsurpassed growth opportunities, there is no limit to what we can accomplish,” said Leisey.
“Vince brings strategic vision, an innovative spirit and proven leadership qualities and, together with his team of sales managers and agents, has built an extraordinary organization,” said Ron Peltier, HomeServices’ chairman and CEO.
“Developing strategies that drive innovation and productivity across HomeServices’ family of companies is key to our mission of delivering value to our agents and consumers,” added Peltier. “We look forward to working with Vince and his team and are very proud to welcome them to HomeServices.”
The acquisition further expands HomeServices’ presence in the Omaha and Lincoln, Nebraska markets, which include Omaha-based CBSHOME and Lincoln-based Woods Bros. Realty and HOME Real Estate. They will continue to operate as independently-branded companies in their respective markets.
With this transaction, HomeServices has nearly 43,000 real estate professionals operating in nearly 900 offices across 30 states. In 2017, the company’s associates facilitated over $137 billion in residential real estate sales and nearly 360,000 transactions (including the 2017 and 2018-to-date acquisitions pro-forma), further strengthening HomeServices’ position of becoming the nation’s largest real estate brokerage company based on transactions.
© 2018 David Mazor
Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.