Ben Kinney Companies, a major real estate firm based in the Pacific Northwest, announced this week that it has acquired a new Keller Williams franchise.
The acquisition of Keller Williams Marysville — which has about 130 brokers and is based about 30 miles north of Seattle — is the seventh Keller Williams firm in the U.S. that Ben Kinney Companies has purchased. It brings Ben Kinney Companies’ total agent count to more than 1,450 and means the combined firm now represents more than $3.5 billion in annual sales volume.
Anton Stetner had previously served as the operating principal at Keller Williams Marysville, and in a statement Thursday said that “Ben Kinney was the obvious choice when I decided to partner.”
“I am excited for Ben to bring his talented leadership team into our office to provide a higher level of resources and services to our agents and consumers,” Stetner said.
In an email Friday, a spokesperson for Ben Kinney Companies said that Stetner will continue working for the company as a “leading agent and influencer.” He will also continue to have a teaching role at Keller Williams Marysville.
The spokesperson added that Kinney and Stetner first brought up the idea of an acquisition four years ago, and that more active discussions have been ongoing for about a year now.
Ben Kinney
However, Ben Kinney himself — the CEO of his eponymous company — said in a statement that he too is “excited to partner with” Stetner, “someone I have known for over 10 years, to bring Keller Williams Marysville into our Ben Kinney Brokerages network.”
Financial details of the acquisition were not publicly disclosed.
Ben Kinney Companies describes itself as one of the largest owners of Keller Williams franchises in the U.S. Kinney founded the firm a decade and a half ago and today its franchises are scattered throughout northwest Washington as well as in Colorado, Texas, California and Idaho. In 2015, Kinney also opened an office in London.
Kinney has also snatched up non-brokerage real estate companies. In February, for example, his firm purchased Gabbi.ai and Redman Tech, an artificial intelligence-powered virtual assistant provider and an IDX website company, respectively. At the time, Kinney said the idea behind the acquisitions was to cut down on the daily tasks his agents have to deal with.
In 2017, Ben Kinney Companies also bought Blueroof360, which provides a platform that has CRM, marketing and search features.
Ben Kinney Companies’ spokesperson told Inman Friday that acquiring Keller Williams Marysville was specifically appealing to the company because it already owns other firms that geographically surround Marysville.
“Having Marysville will enable us to serve agents throughout all of Snohomish County and surrounding areas now,” the spokesperson explained.
Kinney also said in the statement that he once lived in Marysville.
“I have great memories living in Marysville in my 20’s,” Kinney said in the statement, “and am excited to be part of this community again with my friend and business partner Anton.”
