The new joint venture company called OrangeTee & Tie will comprise more than 4,000 agents, pushing it ahead of Huttons Asia. (Photo: Jianwei Huang)
Homegrown property agencies OrangeTee and Edmund Tie & Co. announced on Monday (28 August) that they will merge to form a new joint venture company called OrangeTee & Tie. No financial terms were disclosed.
The combined entity will comprise a total of 4,060 agents, making it the third largest property agency in Singapore and pushing it ahead of Huttons Asia with over 3,000 agents.
OrangeTee & Tie will also have a combined portfolio of more than 50 residential projects and at least four upcoming launches.
“This merger has been a carefully considered exercise, and we have planned for a growth trajectory that will propel us to become a leading agency in Singapore, both through organic growth and mergers and acquisitions,” said OrangeTee’s managing director Steven Tan.
Edmund Tie & Co. has extensive experience in project marketing and development consultancy, while OrangeTee is well-known for promoting technology.
In addition to its current work@home application and new property listing portal, OrangeTee is also spearheading a digital platform – the Property Agents Review – to list agents’ track records for customers to rate and review.
“With more and more routine tasks being automated or superseded by technology, there is an urgent need for agents to embrace technology, upskill themselves and move up the value chain,” said Ong Choon Fah, Edmund Tie & Co’s CEO.
“Agents need to shift the balance away from administrative and operational activities towards higher value-added services such as advisory expertise.”
This latest announcement comes two months after a merger between PropNex Realty and Dennis Wee Group made it the largest agency in Singapore with 6,743 agents, according to the Council for Estate Agencies registry as of 27 August.
Mohamed Ismail, CEO of PropNex Realty, said more agencies are consolidating to remain competitive.
“Unlike previous years, we are witnessing a change in the real estate industry scene in 2017. Many small to mid-sized firms might choose not to continue operating on their own and will instead consolidate their business with the bigger players.
“I believe that at best, the market today can only afford to have four bigger agencies operating successfully. Over time, only two agencies will eventually dominate the industry,” he said.
PropNex is expecting at least 500 agents to come on board in 2018, and just announced a new $5 million training and development roadmap to help its agents improve their skills.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
