Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathawayhas made another bet on a recovery in the US housing market, agreeing to lend the conglomerate’s trusted brand to a new venture with Brookfield Asset Management.
Berkshire’s HomeServices of America unit will be the majority owner of a network of franchised real estate agencies, which will offer services next year under the name Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices.
Brookfield will contribute a network of more than 53,000 individual estate agents responsible for $72bn of residential real estate sales last year. The group acquired the business last year from Prudential Financial, but did not retain the rights to the Prudential name, which are taken back as existing franchise agreements expire.