Remax to go public?

There have many recent signals that suggest that Remax International may be preparing for an IPO. In the recent past, they changed their Board of Directors to include a significant number of new people, mostly "outside" directors. This was done, most likely, to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley rules for public companies. Most recently they have been buying up many of the regional franchises they had sold over the years. International now owns California, Hawaii, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and probably others that I am not aware of. I believe that this acquisition path is to create a larger individual company that will be easier to take public. These moves have been financed by the company going to the financial markets (ie, Wall Street) for a large private debt offering.

It seems like they are preparing for the Initial Public Offering before too long. This would increase the number of franchisees who are Wall Street driven. (GMAC, C-21, Coldwell Banker, ERA, Prudential, Sothebys, and now Remax)

The feedback I get is that many top real estate agents are feeling like they are getting lost in the fray and will be seeking out those franchises that treat them like family members instead of like numbers.