Coldwell Becomes 3rd Largest in U.S. With Acquisition

Coldwell Banker Residential Group said Monday it had bought a large New Jersey real estate agency in its biggest acquisition to date.

Coldwell Banker, a Mission Viejo-based unit of Sears, Roebuck & Co., didn’t disclose a price for Schlott Realtors, which Coldwell said was the second-largest residential real estate brokerage in New Jersey.

The purchase makes Coldwell Banker the third-largest brokerage chain in the nation after Century 21, also based in Orange County, and Denver’s RE/MAX.

Coldwell said the new brokerage would give it a bigger presence in the New York City area.

Schlott, based in Wayne, has 99 offices and 4,000 sales agents in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Florida.

The Schlott deal is a change from several recent Coldwell deals in which the big brokerage chain has concentrated on converting company-owned offices to affiliates owned by others.

The Schlott acquisition gives Coldwell Banker, based in Mission Viejo, 1,900 offices in the United States and 43,000 sales representatives.