Colorado-based boutique brokerage West + Main Homes is acquiring Oregon-based Fred Real Estate Group, the companies announced on Wednesday.
The move comes as Fred founders Keeley and Fred Mannila, who formed the brokerage about 15 years ago, started considering retirement and the future of a company that carries their name.
Fred Mannila
“Initially, we thought it might just be Keeley and I, so calling the company Fred was a way for us to have fun with it,” Fred Mannila said in a statement. “As we continued to grow, though, we started to think, hmmmm, how the heck are we ever going to retire, with my name all over the signs and websites?”
Over the years, the Fred team grew to over 130 real estate agents. Now, those agents will become part of the West + Main brand, whose like-minded company culture, mission and brand are what made the company a good fit for the acquisition, a press release stated. Prior to the acquisition, West + Main had about 300 agents.
Keeley Mannila
“We’re incredibly grateful for the lessons learned, the business partnerships formed, the wonderful clients we’ve been honored to work with, and our Fredtastic team of real estate professionals,” Keeley Mannila said in a statement.
“Built from a simple idea, our fresh approach and company culture were among the reasons we grew to be the largest independent real estate brokerage in Central Oregon, and West + Main is in absolutely perfect alignment, and the only exit we would have considered, always with our agents at the center of every decision.”
Greg Fischer
Former Fred agents will continue to work out of the company’s headquarters in Bend, Oregon, and are in the process of expanding into an additional office in downtown Bend. The companies plan to finalize the acquisition by the end of the year.
“We could not be more flattered to be taking over where Keeley and Fred are leaving off,” Greg Fischer, co-owner of the newly minted West + Main Homes in Oregon, said in a statement. “We look forward to providing our agents, and their clients, as well as the community, the same thoughtful care they have always known with Fred.”
In addition to Colorado, and now Oregon, West + Main Homes also operates in the greater Oklahoma City market. The company was founded in 2017.