Anatomy of a brokerage takeover: what happens behind the scenes

Several big-name transactions have taken place over the past six months.

In June 2025, KIC Realty made its acquisition of Red Rose Realty expand its footprint to Ontario. Bosley Real Estate was acquired in December TrilliumWestand the following month.

The conversion side of the sector is also busy, as the Risi family (formerly operating as Royal Lepage Connect Realty and Royal Lepage Your Community) has taken over all 17 offices and joined Remax.

Clear communication = easier transition

For Christan Bosley, broker of Bosley Real Estate, the opportunity to acquire TrilliumWest presented itself organically through its affiliation with Leading Real Real estate companies of the world.

“[Our] leadership skills and attributes are highly complementary…” says Bosley Of course, the acquisition would not have happened if we had not been open to the idea expanding into a geographic location that also created a natural divide in our service areas.”

There are eight people working on the back end of the Bosley Real Estate/TrilliumWest acquisition 10 managers who have onboard agents who decided to join Bosley Real Estate during the acquisition – a choice freely given to them.

“Most acquisitions I’ve seen tend to involve a flip of a switch with strong communication to the agents they are now part of brokerage B,” says Bosley. “I don’t believe in it operate in this way.”

Instead, Bosley decided to run both real estate agencies side by side for a while agents an opportunity to get to know her as a leader and learn what Bosley Real Estate had to offer offer.

“I don’t believe we ever have to make a choice for people. We only want people who have confidence and… believe in our offering,” she says. “As a result, we have lost some reactive people, but only a very small percentage.”

‘We understand it can feel overwhelming’

For Ron McIntosh, president and co-founder of KIC Realty, the acquisition of Red Rose Realty agents at KIC Realty were very well organized.

“Red Rose prepared their agents well and were able to provide us with many details we had to enable a smooth handover,” says McIntosh.

Transferring and onboarding agents from one brokerage to another on such a large scale scale requires close monitoring of many processes.

As Bosley’s director of education and culture, Johanna Pigeon also serves as the brokerage’s main point of contact as an agent onboarding specialist.

“There are a lot of moving parts in the background and it takes time to get familiar with new internal platforms, and to remember who is who and who does what,” says Pigeon.

“We understand it can be very overwhelming, so we break down the process manageable steps and guidance at every stage.”

Order of operations

Deciding whether to first transfer agents through the Real Estate Council of Ontario (RECO) or hire them internally is a matter of agent preference. Bosley does the latter, setting up brokers in their system with logins and advising their marketing team on broker needs prior to the official transition to ensure no business disruptions occur.

Afterwards, the brokerage gives RECO a notice to transfer an agent’s license brokerage to another.

After the transfer of their RECO license is completed, administrators register their brokers with their local authorities and associations.

Check all the boxes

These processes are just the tip of the proverbial paperwork iceberg. While smaller Acquisitions may require only a few staff members to coordinate new transfers (for KIC Realty, that would be the agent services team and deals manager), larger acquisitions require more hands on deck.

For Bosley, this meant bringing in on-site operations managers and in-house legal counsel branch support team, IT and others. With so many moving parts Make sure agents are set up properly; checklists are an absolute necessity.

“We have a pretty robust checklist for the entire onboarding team so we can be confident all tasks are completed,” says Pigeon, explaining that some lists contain more than 100 action items.

McIntosh confirms that KIC Realty also follows their own broker-specific checklist, adding that they also “adapt on a case-by-case basis to meet the individual needs of the population agent or team coming on board.”

To ensure that no agent falls through the cracks of such a complex system, Pigeon explains that Bosley tracks tasks within a centralized workflow and has weekly meetings answer questions and solve problems.

“We also communicate through internal channels and refine our processes to improve them efficiency and create a smoother transition,” she says.

For agents who suddenly need to get to know a host of new programs and faces, the The transition process can be overwhelming. To get around that, Bosley Real Estate organizes sessions to introduce agents to the names and faces of those who serve their services business in every department: managers, reception staff, accounting administrators, etc.

“Agents can also book one-on-one sessions as they continue their onboarding journey Additional support is needed,” says Pigeon.

Don’t forget to listen

Both McIntosh and Pigeon emphasize the need for clear, honest communication the beginning.

“I would say: make sure your team is ready, ensure a manageable workflow and keep the lines tight open communication, listening to feedback and adapting where and when necessary key,” says Pigeon. “Every experience is different for every agent and knowing ours Our team’s strengths allow us to support them in the way they need it most.”

McIntosh says to be straightforward and consistent with the agents from the start.

“Communicate that they have a voice in the process,” McIntosh said, adding that KIC Realty is always open for future mergers and acquisitions.”

Bosley’s best advice: Start early and be prepared.

‘Have a strong plan [and] a dedicated team,” she says. “Develop strong relationships within RECO and your local authorities. People want to help. Listen carefully, always create notes, come out of curiosity and be willing to change direction if necessary.”