Harcourts and Landmark team up to take on Elders
The Harcourts property franchise will team up with rural services business Landmark in a bid to challenge the dominance of the Elders real estate brand.
The deal, announced yesterday, will cover both companies’ regional and rural real estate operations by April in the joint venture, Landmark Harcourts.
The new business will include some of Harcourts’ 280 Australian offices and Landmark’s 125 rural real estate branches and is expected to turn over some $20 billion in property sales a year.
The existing Landmark real estate business will be rebranded as a part of an equal-party joint venture that will be ”integrated into the greater Harcourts family,” Harcourts Australasian head Bryan Thomson said.
Since its formation in New Zealand in 1888, Harcourts has established a network of 640 real estate franchises in Australia, Indonesia, South Africa and China.
Landmark’s rural services business operates from 400 locations in Australia.
The new business will incorporate the companies’ rural and regional operations and leave Harcourts’ metropolitan business unchanged.
Story by Simon Johanson www.smh.com.au
