The recent merger of ETC (formerly known as Edmund Tie) and OrangeTee Group has been announced in a joint press release on Feb 24. The two companies will form a new holding company, although the name of the company is yet to be disclosed. According to Desmond Sim, CEO of ETC, this is a collaboration of two equal parties, not an acquisition.
Sim, who will take on the role of group CEO for the merged entity alongside his current position as CEO of ETC, will work alongside Justin Quek, the current CEO of OrangeTee & Tie who will serve as the deputy group CEO of the new holding company.
After the merger, ETC will focus on consultancy and advisory services while OrangeTee will concentrate on proptech and its real estate agency business, supported by its network of 2,803 salespersons registered with the Council for Estate Agencies (CEA) as of Feb 24. OrangeTee & Tie’s CEO, Justin Quek, will assume the role of deputy group CEO of the new holding company post-merger.
The combined entity will have over 520 staff, in addition to the 2,803 salespersons. Sim says that by pooling their expertise, resources and networks, they can achieve significant growth, create value for all stakeholders and achieve the scale required to thrive in the current dynamic real estate landscape.
This is not the first collaboration between the two companies. In August 2017, they merged their associates’ business under a new entity, OrangeTee & Tie, which had a sales force of over 4,000 agents and propelled the company to the third spot among the top three agencies. After the joint venture, former Edmund Tie took a 20% stake in OrangeTee & Tie. This year marks the 30th anniversary of ETC.
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The latest merger between ETC and OrangeTee was facilitated by Triplestar Holdings and TH Investments, which acquired a stake in ETC after a management buyout in 2016. As some of the original shareholders retired, the company bought back their shares, increasing Triplestar and TH Investments’ stake to about 60%. Today, Triplestar Holdings and TH Investments own 100% of ETC. ETC is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year.
OrangeTee Group was incorporated in 2000 and will celebrate its 25th anniversary this year. It is an investment holding company, which is led by the board of directors and supported by the C-suites comprising Quek, CEO of OrangeTee & Tie; Marcus Oh, managing director of OrangeTee Advisory; Teo Yak Huat, CFO and Christine Sun, chief researcher & strategist.
With a strengthened brokerage and consultancy team supported by advanced proptech, Quek believes that they are ready to scale their capabilities and provide innovative, seamless solutions across all real estate sectors.
Stakeholders in OrangeTee Group include Tokyu Livable Inc. which acquired a 22.5% stake in the firm in 2014. Tokyu Livable is one of Japan’s largest real estate agencies with 198 offices nationwide, and a subsidiary of Tokyu Fudosan Holdings – the real estate business of giant conglomerate Tokyu Group. Vogue Capital Group, a private property fund, also has a stake in OrangeTee Group.
Both Vogue Capital and Tokyu Livable will hold a stake in the new holding company after the merger along with Ng’s Triplestar Holdings and TH Investments. ETC’s joint venture in Malaysia, Nawawi Tie, opened an office in Johor Bahru last year. The firm also has a presence in Penang and Malaysia, and an associate company in Thailand, Edmund Tie & Co (Thailand).
Sim believes that this merger will create more opportunities for them in the ASEAN region and Japan, particularly through their relationship with Tokyu Livable.