Inman

Realogy’s NRT subsidiary acquires big brokerage in California’s Wine Country

Napa Valley, Calif., vineyard image via Shutterstock.

Realogy subsidiary NRT LLC has strengthened its position as the nation’s biggest real estate brokerage with the acquisition of Frank Howard Allen Realtors, a leading brokerage with 300 sales associates in California’s Wine Country working out of 17 offices in Marin, Napa and Sonoma counties.

Thirteen of the newly acquired offices will do business as Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, and the remaining four will operate as Sotheby’s International Realty. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Frank Howard Allen Realtors was ranked by Real Trends as among the top 60 U.S. real estate brokerages in 2012 with approximately $1.85 billion in closed sales volume.

NRT LLC owns and operates approximately 710 offices across the U.S. with 41,200 sales associates in 35 major metropolitan areas under the Coldwell Banker, Coldwell Banker Commercial, ERA, Sotheby’s International Realty and The Corcoran Group brand names. NRT and its affiliated companies also provide mortgage, title, insurance, escrow, warranty, relocation and concierge services.

“We are proud to welcome Frank Howard Allen Realtors to our family of companies,” said Bruce Zipf, president and chief executive officer, NRT LLC, in a statement. “While NRT is constantly evaluating opportunities for growth in new and existing markets, we have remained disciplined in our approach to focusing on firms that have a compatible company culture and highly talented local leadership — and Frank Howard Allen Realtors is an excellent example.”

In June, two leading Solano County, Calif., brokerages — Vacaville-based Kappel & Kappel Realty Inc. and Solano Gateway Realty Inc. in Fairfield — merged and affiliated with franchisor Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

Coldwell Banker Kappel Gateway Realty has more more than 200 agents working out of seven offices along the Interstate 80 corridor between San Francisco and Sacramento.