SINGAPORE - OrangeTee and Edmund Tie & Company announced on Monday (Aug 28) a joint venture called OrangeTee & Tie (JV) that will be Singapore's third largest real estate agency.
The joint venture combines OrangeTee's associate agency division of 2,938 agents and Edmund Tie & Co Property Network of 1,122 agents.
The two firms noted in a joint statement: "The combined entity will be more than 4,000-strong, making it the third largest associate agency in Singapore."
The consolidation of the real estate industry in Singapore was marked in June this year with the merger of PropNex and the Dennis Wee Group to form the largest agency with close to 7,000 agents, ahead of ERA which then had some 6,200 agents.
OrangeTee managing director Steven Tan said: "Real estate and the wider economy are going through structural changes. Digitisation and the sharing economy have disrupted many traditional modes of commerce, and the market has responded by consolidating and rationalising.
"To do well in real estate, we need to be able to create economies of scale to enhance productivity and cost effectiveness, harness adequate manpower with broad skill sets for market coverage and penetration, and leverage on technology to maximise efficiency and effectiveness."
The combined portfolio means OrangeTee & Tie has more than 50 existing residential projects, and at least four upcoming launches to work on.
There is also more than 50 in-house training programmes and over 1,400 hours of training per year available to agents.
OrangeTee calls itself a real estate enterprise, and has been focused on harnessing technology in the industry.
For instance, it has a portal for new property listings, and is now working on a digital platform known as the Property Agents Review, "to list agents' track records for customers to rate and review".
Edmund Tie & Company Property Network's parent firm is a a full-service property consulting firm with experience in project marketing, among other services.
Its chief executive Ong Choon Fah said both firms are established industry brands, "known for strong work ethics and high levels of professionalism".
"The similarity of organisational cultures is a good start towards a successful merger that is sustainable over the long term. Additionally, both firms complement each other well in terms of capabilities," she added.
