Royal LePage Announces Major Expansion in British Columbia

Move makes it the largest real estate company on Vancouver Island

TORONTO, July 22, 2015 /CNW/ - Royal LePage Real Estate Services (Royal LePage) has announced the acquisition of the Coast Realty Group brokerage and property management business which will operate under the Royal LePage banner, effective immediately. 

"I am thrilled to welcome the more than 150 highly regarded professionals at Coast Realty to the Royal LePage family," said Phil Soper, President and CEO, Royal LePage. "This important acquisition is consistent with our goal to give Canadians everywhere access to the superior service that only comes from working with one of our uniquely trained and equipped Realtors®."

"We have made growth in the all-important British Columbia market a strategic priority and the focus has paid huge dividends.  In the last year alone, Royal LePage has experienced incredible momentum across the province, adding 600 Realtors® through acquisition.  We are both the oldest and the fastest growing national real estate business in British Columbia and in Canada," Soper continued.

Established in 1984, Coast Realty Group is a large, independent real estate company operating out of nine offices on Vancouver Island and one office on the mainland in Powell River, British Columbia. 

Details of the acquisition are as follows:

• Barry Clark and Travis Carmichael, broker owners of Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty have acquired, and will merge their brokerage with, Coast Realty Group offices in Nanaimo and Ladysmith and on Gabriola Island. The merged brokerage will operate as Royal LePage Nanaimo Realty. Combined, the brokerage has the largest market share in Ladysmith and on Gabriola Island and has almost tripled its market share in Nanaimo, based on units sold.
  
  
• Clinton Miller, broker owner of Royal LePage Port Alberni-Pacific Rim Realty has acquired the Coast Realty Group offices in Port Alberni and Ucluelet.  The Port Alberni office will merge with Miller's brokerage in Port Alberni, and the Ucluelet office will be a branch office of that location.  Both offices will operate as Royal LePage Port Alberni-Pacific Rim Realty. Combined, the brokerage has the largest market share in both Port Alberni and Ucluelet, based on units sold.
  
  
• Clinton Miller, broker owner of Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum Beach Realty has acquired the Coast Realty Group offices in Parksville and Qualicum Beach.  The merged brokerage will operate as Royal LePage Parksville-Qualicum Beach Realty. Combined, the brokerage has the largest market share in both Parksville and Qualicum Beach, based on units sold.
  
  
• Gregg Hart, broker owner of Royal LePage in the Comox Valley, has acquired, and will merge his brokerage in Courtenay with the Coast Realty Group office in Courtenay. He has also acquired Coast Realty Group's offices in Hornby, Denman Island, Cumberland and Union Bay, and will operate them as satellite offices of the Courtenay location.  The merged brokerage will operate as Royal LePage in the Comox Valley.  Combined, the brokerage has 38 per cent market share in Courtenay, and 80 per cent market share in the areas served by the satellite offices, based on units sold.
  
  
• Stephen Grant, broker owner of Royal LePage Advance Realty, has acquired the Coast Realty Group office in Campbell River, and will merge it with his existing Royal LePage brokerage in Campbell River. The merged brokerage will operate as Royal LePage Advance Realty. Combined, the brokerage has the largest market share in Campbell River, based on units sold.
  
  
• The Coast Realty Group office in Powell River will be converting to Royal LePage in the next 30 to 60 days. 

"Attracting the best real estate professionals to better serve our consumer clients is vital to sustaining our leadership position as Canada's Real Estate Company.  With this acquisition, Royal LePage extends our lead as the largest brokerage firm on Vancouver Island," concluded Soper.

About Royal LePage
Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country's leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of over 16,000 real estate professionals in more than 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women's and children's shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbolTSX:BRE.

For more information, visit www.royallepage.ca.

SOURCE Royal LePage Real Estate Services

Gwen McGuire, Kaiser Lachance Communications, T: 647.725.2520 X204, C: 416.948.6500, [email protected]