Inman

Re/Max IPO nets $225 million as underwriters exercise full option to purchase additional stock

Re/Max Holdings Inc. says it netted $225 million after expenses in its initial public offering (IPO), with underwriters exercising the option to purchase all of the 1.5 million shares available to them.

In all, Re/Max sold 11.5 million shares of its Class A common stock at a price of $22 per share in its IPO.

With shares in the large franchisor’s stock trading at $30.83 as of the market’s close on Monday, up 40 percent from its IPO price, the IPO marked the most recent Wall Street win for the real estate industry. The other relatively new, publicly traded real estate companies Zillow, Trulia and Realogy also saw IPO success and have experienced strong share price gains.

Firm, IPO date IPO share price Net proceeds from IPO
Zillow, July 2011 $20 $75.7 million
Trulia, September 2012 $17 $89.4 million
Realogy, October 2012 $27 $1.2 billion
Re/Max, October 2013 $22 $225 million

Sources: Inman News, Re/Max and SEC filings for Trulia and Realogy.

Re/Max used $120.3 million of the funds to buy out a large shareholder, Weston Presidio, and another chunk, $27.3 million, to reacquire two of its master franchise regions in the U.S. It now owns 12 of its 32 franchise regions in the U.S. and Canada.