SAN FRANCISCO, CA - Pacific Union International, Inc., the eighth-largest real estate brokerage in the U.S. by 2016 sales volume, and Partners Trust, a leading independent luxury brokerage with more than 240 associates in the Los Angeles area, announced their intent to merge today with the deal expected to close next week. The merger is the second for Pacific Union in the Los Angeles market within the last eight months and follows its December 2016 merger with Beverly Hills-based John Aaroe Group.
The combined firm creates the preeminent independent luxury real estate brokerage in California, with 2016 sales volume of $12.61 billion and projected 2017 sales volume in excess of $15 billion. The merger expands the brokerage to 47 offices in Northern and Southern California, with more than 1,400 real estate professionals.
Partners Trust was founded in 2009 by Nick Segal, F. Ron Smith, Richard Stearns and Hugh Evans III. Posting 2016 sales volume of $2.47 billion, Partners Trust has produced total sales of more than $10 billion since its founding. The firm has offices in Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Santa Monica, Ocean Park, Malibu, La Cañada Flintridge, and Pasadena. Partners Trust has been named by the Los Angeles Business Journal as one of the “Best Places to Work” in Los Angeles for seven consecutive years, and its top- performing associates are regularly named to Variety’s Showbiz Real Estate Elite, The Hollywood Reporter’s Top 25 Real Estate Agents, and REAL Trends’ The Thousand as featured in The Wall Street Journal. Partners Trust is the founding brokerage of Leverage Global Partners, an exclusive international network of luxury real estate firms in 16 countries.
“Our merger with Pacific Union represents a new and exciting era for our team of partners and associates," Partners Trust CEO and Co-Founder Nick Segal says. “It will positively redefine the California real estate market and make us the dominant, independent force in the Los Angeles luxury real estate market. We immediately strengthen our position as a market leader, deepen our marketing and technology tool chest, and expand our global reach.” Segal adds, “It allows us to create the most ideal road map for the ultimate client experience in Los Angeles.”
John Aaroe Group and Partners Trust will continue to operate as separate brands with their current leadership in their respective offices. Partners Trust will incorporate Pacific Union’s innovative marketing and business intelligence assets into its real estate practice just as John Aaroe Group has done.
“We’ve seen a dramatic 30 percent year to year increase in sales volume as a direct result of our merger with Pacific Union in 2016,” John Aaroe, founder and president of John Aaroe Group says. “Our shared technology, sales, and marketing strength and innovative best practices lead the industry and will continue to drive our strategic growth in key markets across Southern California.”
“This merger executes against Pacific Union’s unique, high-performance vision for the development of the ultimate California real estate company and the real estate firm of the future,” Pacific Union CEO Mark A. McLaughlin says. “Beyond our expansion in Southern California, we admire Partners Trust’s impressive year-over-year growth in this highly competitive market and deeply value the extraordinary principles of integrity and trust that Partners Trust delivers to its clients. Pacific Union shares this same commitment to our clients through teamwork, trust and innovation.”
In addition to a robust array of innovative sales tools, a Chinese Concierge office in Beijing, and business intelligence from Pacific Union Chief Economist Selma Hepp, Partners Trust will benefit from Pacific Union’s global digital marketing campaigns. This advertising outreach aggressively extends Pacific Union’s brand awareness and listings to real estate investors in the leading international markets of China, India, Brazil and the U.K. Since its launch in 2016, the campaign has delivered more than 187 million global impressions and 621,000 international site visits to www.pacificunion.com.
Through this merger, Partners Trust extends its new-development real estate strength into Los Angeles’ highly competitive new-condominium market together with urban sales and marketing authority, The Mark Company. Pacific Union acquired The Mark Company in 2015 and leads the West Coast in the development of new, luxury, high-rise condominium projects that are transforming downtown residential markets in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Partners Trust will continue to grow its commercial team, which uniquely leverages the brokerage's platform.
About Pacific Union International
Founded in San Francisco in 1975, Pacific Union International, Inc. is the West Coast’s premier luxury real estate brand with 2016 sales volume of $12.61 billion. In 2016, real estate industry leaders RISMedia and REAL Trends rank Pacific Union as the eighth-largest brokerage in the U.S. Through its 2015 acquisition of The Mark Company, the nation’s leading sales and marketing firm for new urban luxury developments, Pacific Union expanded its brand to development projects from San Diego to Seattle. In 2016 Pacific Union merged with Los Angeles-based brokerage John Aaroe Group, followed in 2017 with a merger with Partners Trust also based in Los Angeles, extending the Pacific Union brand to become the preeminent leader and ultimate California real estate company. The strategic alliance of these four powerhouses supports over 1,400 elite real estate professionals in 47 offices throughout the West Coast. Northern California markets include San Francisco, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, Napa, and Sonoma counties, Silicon Valley, and the Lake Tahoe region. Greater Los Angeles markets include Beverly Hills, Downtown, the Westside, and the San Fernando and San Gabriel Valleys. To extend Pacific Union’s international reach, in 2013 the brokerage established an award-winning, Beijing-based China Concierge program that fully supports its Chinese investors on the mainland. Additionally Pacific Union offers a full range of personal and commercial real estate services, including buying, selling, and relocation in addition to operating joint-venture businesses that provide rental and commercial property management and insurance services. Locally owned, Pacific Union executes with a vision for the future, an entrepreneurial mindset, and an unwavering commitment to deliver exceptional service and expertise. For more information, visit: www.pacificunion.com.
About Partners Trust
With seven offices, 240 associates, and more than $10 billion in transactions since its founding in 2009, Partners Trust has fast become a leading independent Los Angeles real estate brokerage. Serving both the residential and commercial markets, Partners Trust is a dynamic agency known for its robust global network, innovative operations, and associates who operate with an unmatched level of integrity, resulting in a peerless level of service. In addition to offices in Malibu, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Santa Monica, La Cañada Flintridge, and Pasadena, the company also has a presence in Shanghai, China. Partners Trust is frequently ranked among the top Los Angeles residential real estate brokerages by sales volume and has been named one of the Los Angeles Business Journal’s “Best Places to Work in Los Angeles” for seven consecutive years. The company is the exclusive Los Angeles area member of Leverage Global Partners, a network of prestigious independent real estate companies across 16 countries. All associates contribute to the Partners Trust Charitable Giving Fund, a not-for-profit that supports organizations serving disenfranchised Los Angeles communities through improvements in housing, health, education, and the arts. For more information, visit: www.thepartnerstrust.com.