Re/Max in talks with banks to forge JV entity

Real estate brokerage firm Re/Max India today said it is in discussion with a public sector bank and two private sector lenders to forge a joint venture entity in the largely unorganised space.

"We are talking to a public sector bank and two private sector banks to enter into a joint venture initiative," Re/Max India Director Sam Chopra told PTI here.

Chopra refused to reveal the names of the banks, but said that the deal would be inked by the end of March next year.

Asked whether Re/Max would have majority stake in the proposed joint venture entity, Chopra said the shareholding pattern in the venture is yet to be worked out.

"We have various proposals. One bank is willing to opt for a 50:50 venture. Another one wants us to hold just five per cent stake. We are in discussion and nothing has been finalised yet," he said.

Re/Max India, a subsidiary of the world's largest realty brokerage firm Re/Max LLC, had ventured into India last year, and has 110 brokerage offices in the country so far. It plans to open additional 290 offices in India by the end of current fiscal to take the total number of its offices to 400.

The real estate brokerage firm plans to increase its office strength to 3,000, besides adding 60,000 agents across India by 2020.

Re/Max LLC, which has over 7,000 offices spanning across 82 countries globally.