It’s reported, the companies announced that the proposed acquisition, valued at $1.6 billion, had cleared the waiting period for antitrust regulatory review and would likely close by Friday, even though the firms initially said the deal likely wouldn’t be finalized until late 2026. Stockholders voted to approve the merger on Wednesday. 

The proposed deal stipulated that Compass CEO Robert Reffkin would lead the merged companies and that brands would continue to operate independently. On Friday, Reffkin and executives with Anywhere’s subsidiaries, including the Corcoran Group CEO Pam Liebman, presented a united front, posting a graphic with all of the brands’ logos with the tagline “Better Together” on social media. 

Will real estate agent leave Compass?

The news raised questions about how the well-known names would operate under one roof and whether agents in Anywhere’s network would remain with their firms under the Compass umbrella. Since then, many independent brokerages, have touted the deal as a boon for their businesses.

Still  some Compass agents fell, “Bigger isn’t always better,”  “Not everyone wants a big company.”

Still, some have cited the acquisition among the reasons for their departures from Compass. On Wednesday, just before news of the deal closing broke, a New York City and Westchester agent sent an email announcing her move to Brown Harris Stevens, and in it, she wrote that “the acquisition of Anywhere Brand along with the Zillow Lawsuit news took attention and resources away from agents.”

Compass and Anywhere announced their agreement to merge in September, sending shockwaves through the industry, still reeling from Compass’ earlier $444 million acquisition of @properties and Christie’s International Real Estate. 

Compass and the Bottom Line

My thoughts, it’s too soon to tell whether that pitch will pan out. In November, Zillow published a report showing that about half of Anywhere agents surveyed by the platform said they would consider leaving if the acquisition made it across the finish line.