Real Estate Marketing & Beyond
Online real estate brokerage Compass is planning to go public via an initial public offering.
The company has filed a draft registration with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the move. The number of shares it will offer and the price range and timeline for the offering have not been determined yet.
Compass, which was founded by Ori Allon and its CEO Robert Reffkin, has rapidly expanded its presence in the U.S. residential real estate market over the last few years. It’s extremely well-funded too, having raised more than $1.5 billion from investors including SoftBank.
Compass is one of several real estate firms that have grown since the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. When the outbreak first started it reportedly cut around 15% of its staff, but quickly resumed its model of aggressive agent recruitment throughout the U.S. as soon as the housing market picked up in the summer. Compass has also grown its ancillary services, launching a new concierge offering. It also offers bridge loans for lending, title and escrow services.
Compass was ranked by Real Trends as the number three residential real estate firm in the U.S. with $91.3 billion in sales in 2019.
The company’s IPO aspirations are not a surprise. In fact, CEO Reffkin alluded to its IPO plans in an email to agents last month that was seen by The Real Deal. “Being public will allow Compass to raise capital that we can invest in more tools and more support to help you,” Reffkin told agents.
Compass is one of several digital real estate firm that is planning to go public, or has already done so. Earlier this year iBuying giant Opendoor revealed it’s planning to list via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company, while Airbnb went public via an IPO in December.
