UPDATED, May 5, 11:25 a.m.: Compass is expanding again in Florida, completing its acquisition of the majority of BEX Realty’s agents and offices in the state, The Real Deal has learned.
The deal includes about 200 agents and offices in Fort Lauderdale, Port St. Lucie and Palm Beach Gardens, according to a spokesperson from Compass.
Michael Karp, CEO of Boca Raton-based BEX Realty, said BEX is keeping its Boca Raton headquarters and its lead generation business. The Compass acquisition included the majority of its Florida agents, as well as some members of management, he said. The deal closed earlier this week.
Karp, who is staying with BEX, said the company also has brokers and agents across the country.
Compass declined to provide terms of the acquisition.
Bonnie Heatzig
Bonnie Heatzig, a top producer at BEX Realty, is among the agents who opted to not join Compass. Heatzig left BEX for Douglas Elliman, according to a press release. She’s bringing with her more than $100 million in sales under contract at Boca Beach House, a luxury condo development under construction in Boca Raton, as well as more than $40 million in listings.
Heatzig, a licensed attorney who has sold more than $80 million over the past two years, joined Elliman as an executive director of luxury sales and a Knight Frank residential card holder.
Prior to the Compass acquisition, the Bloom Haym team, composed of Michael and Beth Bloom and Melanie Bloom Haym, also joined Elliman from BEX.
In Florida, BEX is active in Boca Raton, Palm Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Naples, Tampa, Orlando and Port St. Lucie. The BEX brand and website are staying with the company, Karp said, and the firm will continue to work with its former agents, who are now listed as Compass partner agents on the BEX website.
Compass has been growing in Florida and other markets in the U.S., including a new push into North Carolina and Delaware. The brokerage, which has offices in 165 U.S. cities, earlier this week acquired Glide Labs, a San Francisco-based real estate transaction management platform.
Compass spent more than $300 million acquiring brokerages and tech firms since 2018, before it went public on April 1, at a $7 billion valuation.
In Florida, Compass expanded to Orlando with more than 85 agents in two offices, and to Tampa Bay with more than 65 agents in two offices, a spokesperson said. So far this year, the firm has brought on more than 350 agents in Florida.
Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly described when Compass spent $300 million acquiring brokerages.