Coast Newport gets new real estate partner

Greg Risling

NEWPORT BEACH -- Coast Newport Properties, one of the area’s largest

independent real estate agencies, will join forces with a national

conglomerate, officials announced Tuesday.

The merger will put Coast Newport under the umbrella of Coldwell Banker,

one of the nation’s most well-known real estate corporations. No

specifics were released about the financial deal.

Danny Bibb, who started the company in the midst of a recession, said the

merger will provide his employees and clientele with more resources.

“It was in the best interest of our agency and our clients to join the

Coldwell Banker family,” Bibb said. “We feel with the local edge we’ve

had, now shared with Coldwell Banker, we will be bigger and more

powerful.”

The agreement, which was finalized Monday, calls for Bibb and his

management team to continue working out of the Civic Plaza offices near

Fashion Island. The company’s name will change to Coast Newport Coldwell

Banker.

The 48-year-old Bibb built the company from scratch in 1990. Primarily

dealing in high-end homes, Coast Newport Properties began to become more

recognized in the industry. Within five years, Coast Newport had branched

out across coastal Orange County and had three offices.

Last year, the company held the largest market share for residential

sales in the Newport-Mesa area. Bibb estimates figures will top $1

billion in sales this year.

Where its new partner will help Coast Newport is paving a path on the

information superhighway. With more than 70,000 offices nationwide,

Coldwell has also established itself on the Internet. Although Coast

Newport has its own Web site, it didn’t match Coldwell’s high-tech

resources.

“Technology is a big part of this industry,” said Bob LeFever, president

of Coldwell Bank of Southern California. “The merger allows Coast Newport

to be part of that, where clients can access property and community

information as well as dealing with mortgage profits and escrow

instruction.”

Analysts said corporate takeovers in the real estate market are nothing

new.

Richard Gollis, principal of The Concord Group, said the industry has

become highly sophisticated. To keep up with the competition, it means

purchasing smaller companies to remain on top, he added.

“There is an obvious advantage of having size,” Gollis said. “Maintaining

market share will always be a challenge and one way to address that is

having a greater network of people. It’s a natural progression.”