Realogy, owner of the Coldwell Banker, ERA, and Sotheby’s franchises could fail or enter bankruptcy according to a recent news report by Yahoo News.
In an article entitled, “15 Companies That Might Not Survive 2009” Realogy was one of the companies mentioned that might go down in 2009.
Realogy Corp. (Privately owned; about 13,000 employees). It’s the biggest real-estate brokerage firm in the country, but that’s a bad thing when there are double-digit declines in both sales and prices, as there were in 2009. Realogy, which includes the Coldwell Banker, ERA, and Sotheby’s franchises, also carries a high debt load, dating to its purchase by the Apollo Group in 2007 – the very moment when the housing market was starting to invert from a soaring ride into a sickening nosedive. Realogy has been trying to refinance much of its debt, prompting lawsuits. One deal was denied by a judge in December, reducing the firm’s already tight wiggle room. via Yahoo! Finance.
Is this just mainstream media sensationalism?
Is it possible Realogy is in serious trouble?
Source: Yahoo News
