Vector Group will spin off its Douglas Elliman real estate brokerage, creating a new public company headquartered in Miami.
Miami-based Vector Group is a holding company for tobacco brands Liggett Group and Vector Tobacco, along with real estate firms New Valley LLC and Douglas Elliman Realty LLC. The company (NYSE: VGR) will soon file a Form 10 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to spin off Douglas Elliman Inc., which will own Douglas Elliman Realty.
Company officials said Douglas Elliman Realty would remain based in New York, but its new parent company, Douglas Elliman Inc. (proposed under the ticker "DOUG"), would be based in Miami.
Douglas Elliman is also one of the biggest residential brokerages in the New York metro area and South Florida. It also has offices in California, Colorado, Texas and Massachusetts.
“With a leading luxury brand and a comprehensive suite of technology-enabled services and investments, Douglas Elliman is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in the large and growing U.S. residential real estate market,” Vector Group President, CEO and ChairmanHoward M. Lorber said. “Following the spin off, Vector Group’s separate tobacco and real estate businesses will be better positioned to execute their strategic plans to drive each company’s long-term success and unlock value for stockholders.”
In its recent third quarter earnings release, Vector Group reported revenue of $1.93 billion in the first three quarters of the year. That included $1.3 billion in revenue from real estate operations and $1.2 billion in revenue from tobacco sales. Douglas Elliman accounted for $1 billion of the real estate revenue as it closed $47.7 billion in deals. Douglas Elliman posted a net income of $82.2 million.
If numbers like that hold up, the spinoff will be among the largest real estate companies in South Florida.
"As we move forward on this path to establish Douglas Elliman as a standalone public company, our experienced management team remains committed to optimizing our existing portfolio of solutions, expanding our market footprint and making strategic investments in early-stage, disruptive proptech companies that keep us and our agents on the cutting edge of the industry," said Scott Durkin, CEO of Douglas Elliman Realty LLC.
The spinoff could be completed near the end of 2021.