RE/MAX Holdings CEO Erik Carlson plans to step down from the top job once The Real Brokerage’s acquisition of RE/MAX closes, with Real Chief Operating Officer Jenna Rozenblat set to become president of the combined Real REMAX Group, the companies indicated this week as the all-stock merger heads toward completion.
The leadership plan comes days after securityholders of both companies approved the transaction at special meetings held August 14, 2026, clearing one of the final hurdles before the deal closes. Real Brokerage and RE/MAX Holdings disclosed the vote results in a joint SEC filing, reporting that roughly 99.0% of Real shareholders and 78.8% of RE/MAX Holdings’ voting power backed the arrangement. The companies said they expect the transaction to close within the next couple of weeks, pending final approval from the Supreme Court of British Columbia and other customary closing conditions.
Carlson, who has led RE/MAX as CEO and board member since 2023, is expected to transition to a seat on the newly formed Real REMAX Group board once the deal closes, according to RE/MAX’s own disclosures. A supplemental SEC filing from the company describes his more than 30 years of leadership experience, including his prior tenure as president and CEO of DISH Network, where he oversaw the satellite and streaming provider’s television and Sling TV businesses.
Rozenblat, who has served as Real’s chief operating officer for roughly three years, was also named chief integration officer for the merger when it was first announced in April. In that role, she has overseen planning for combining the two companies’ operations ahead of closing. Her elevation to president of Real REMAX Group would make her one of the most senior executives at the combined firm, working alongside Real co-founder and CEO Tamir Poleg, who is slated to serve as chairman and CEO of the merged company.
The leadership changes accompany a transaction that would create one of the largest platforms in residential real estate. Under terms first announced in April and detailed in a joint press release, Real is acquiring RE/MAX in an all-stock deal valuing RE/MAX shares at $13.80 each, implying an enterprise value of roughly $880 million, or about 7 times 2025 EBITDA. RE/MAX shareholders may elect to receive 5.152 Real REMAX Group shares or cash per share, with the cash pool capped between $60 million and $80 million. Real shareholders will receive one share of the combined company for each Real share they hold, leaving Real shareholders with about 59% of the combined company and RE/MAX shareholders with about 41% on a fully diluted basis.
Combined, Real REMAX Group would support more than 180,000 real estate professionals across 120-plus countries and territories, with pro forma 2025 revenue of approximately $2.3 billion and Adjusted EBITDA of $157 million before an estimated $30 million in projected annual cost synergies. “Bringing together Real’s technology and operating model with REMAX’s global reach and franchise model is a transformational moment for the industry,” Poleg said when the deal was announced. Carlson, in the same release, said Real “brings differentiated, best-in-class technology that we believe will drive greater choice, higher productivity and expanded support” for RE/MAX broker-owners and agents.
What it means: The planned handoff signals how thoroughly RE/MAX’s identity is being absorbed into Real’s leadership structure as the deal closes β Real’s own executives, not RE/MAX’s incumbent team, will run day-to-day operations at the merged company, even as the RE/MAX brand and its roughly 8,500 offices continue operating under the new corporate umbrella. For RE/MAX’s network of independent broker-owners and agents, the coming weeks will bring a new reporting structure atop a franchise system that has weathered several difficult years of falling U.S. agent counts and commission-lawsuit settlements. The transaction remains subject to litigation from RE/MAX shareholders alleging incomplete merger disclosures, which the companies have moved to address through supplemental filings.
The reshuffling adds RE/MAX to a broader run of leadership and ownership changes rippling through residential real estate this year, from brokerage consolidation moves like Coldwell Banker Warburg’s move to join Compass to homebuilders naming new regional leaders, such as PulteGroup’s recent appointment of Taylor Larza to head its new Florida Panhandle division.
