Real estate brokerage giants Compass and Anywhere Real Estate expect to close their $1.6 billion merger on Friday, Jan. 9, after shareholders of both companies voted to approve the deal at special meetings on Wednesday.
About 99 percent of votes cast by Compass shareholders were in favor of the merger, while investors holding 72 percent of Anywhere shares were in favor, the companies said.
“We are pleased with the strong support from our and Anywhere’s stockholders in approving this transaction,” Compass CEO Robert Reffkin said in a statement.
The vote “reflects confidence in our shared vision to empower real estate professionals with everything they need to grow their business and better serve their clients,” Reffkin added.
Compass said separately that it plans to offer $750 million in convertible senior notes in a private offering, and grant purchasers an option to purchase up to $112.5 million in additional notes.
Shares in Compass closed up 9 percent on Wednesday, at $11.84, and continued to post gains in after-hours trading.
Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Ron Wyden asked antitrust regulators to look into the deal on Dec. 16, claiming that the top 10 percent of brokerages already control 42 percent of U.S. sales volume and that “large brokerages such as Compass and Anywhere have grown by acquiring or absorbing smaller regional firms.”
But antitrust regulators did not intervene before the window for them to do so under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act expired on Jan. 2, the company disclosed in updating fourth quarter financial guidance. In the update, Compass said Q4 revenue will be on the high end of the previously provided range of between $1.59 billion and $1.69 billion, and that it added more than 800 agents during the quarter.
Compass, which offers sellers the option of a three-phase marketing plan in which listings start out as private exclusives, has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Zillow over its decision not to display listings that are publicly marketed but not added to the local multiple listing service or made available to the portal within 24 hours.
