Another big player in the housing market is planning on taking advantage of a recovery.
Re/Max Holdings, one of the country’s biggest real estate brokerages, filed to go public on Monday, following its rival Realogy Holdings onto the public markets.
The preliminary prospectus gave few details about the offering, other than a pro forma fund-raising target of $100 million. But it shed more light on Re/Max, which has stayed private since its founding 40 years ago.
Its decision to go public throws a spotlight on how an upswing in the housing market has benefited real estate companies. Realogy, which runs Century 21 and Coldwell Banker, reported $1.5 billion in revenue for its second quarter, its best showing since 2007.
And Zillow, fresh off a strong quarter, announced a deal to buy StreetEasy.com for $50 million in a bid to gain a strong position in the burgeoning New York City market.
In its preliminary prospectus, Re/Max disclosed that it posted two consecutive annual profits, earning $33.3 million last year. For the first six months of 2013, the company earned $15 million, up 8.7 percent from the same time last year.
And as of June 30, it employed 91,809 agents, its highest number in three years.
Re/Max plans on using two classes of stock, with the company selling Class A shares in its I.P.O. Its current owners, including co-founders Dave and Gail Liniger and the investment firm Weston Presidio, will own Class B shares that effectively will hold twice the voting power of publicly traded shares for five years after the brokerage goes public.
It plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “RMAX.â€
Re/Max’s offering is being led by Morgan Stanley, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase.
