Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate brokerages in the New York metro area, is spinning off from parent company Vector Group to become a standalone, publicly traded company.
Vector Group also owns Liggett Group, a tobacco company; Vector Tobacco; Liggett Vector Brands LLC; and New Valley LLC, which includes the accounts of Elliman and other less significant brands.
Along with its real estate services that continue to expand nationally, Elliman is also a prop tech investment business. Its third-quarter revenue this year was $354 million, up from $228.9 million in last year’s third quarter. Its revenue over the past 12 months ending on Sept. 30 amounts to almost $1.3 billion, with $47.7 billion in gross transaction value.
Vector made the announcement this week, and said that Douglas Elliman was planning to file a Form 10 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
“The filing of the Form 10 registration statement is an important milestone in our plan to create two independent publicly traded companies,” said Howard Lorber, president and CEO of Vector Group and chairman, president and CEO of Douglas Elliman Inc. “With a leading luxury brand and a comprehensive suite of technology-enabled services and investments, Douglas Elliman is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the large and growing U.S. residential real estate market. Following the spin-off, Vector Group”™s separate tobacco and real estate businesses will be better positioned to execute their strategic plans to drive each company”™s long-term success and unlock value for stockholders.”
Lorber, who will be CEO of the new company while Scott Durkin remains as CEO of Douglas Elliman Realty, the brokerage, told Bloomberg that the move positions the companies for better investment opportunities, especially for those who won’t invest in tobacco and cigarette companies, which Vector owns as well.
“Today”™s announcement reflects our confidence in the exciting prospects of Douglas Elliman as an industry-leading brand name differentiated by its utilization of and investment in a portfolio of innovative technology services and a best-in-class team of employees and agents,” Durkin said. “As we move forward on this path to establish Douglas Elliman as a standalone public company, our experienced management team remains committed to optimizing our existing portfolio of solutions, expanding our market footprint and making strategic investments in early-stage, disruptive PropTech companies that keep us and our agents on the cutting edge of the industry.”
The tax-free spinoff is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
Elliman plans to list its stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “DOUG,” and investor will receive one share of the spin-off company for every two shares of Vector.
