Prudential bought by Buffet-owned company

-- June Casagrande

NEWPORT BEACH -- HomeServices.com Inc. has purchased a controlling

interest in Prudential California Realty, including its three Newport

Beach offices.

The cost of the transaction was not disclosed.

HomeServices.com is an energy holdings company controlled by an

investment group headed by Nebraska billionaire Warren Buffet.

Prudential partners Steve Games, Nyda Jones-Church and John Aaroe will

maintain a minority interest in the company -- the country’s largest

privately owned and operated franchised real estate company. Prudential

has more than 3,100 salespeople and 71 offices and, based on $12 billion

in sales in 2001, is the fifth-largest real estate brokerage in the

county.

“Locally, people won’t see a difference -- the name doesn’t change,

but the stability of the company increases,” Games said. “Agents will

benefit from better technology, the expertise of some tremendous real

estate CEOs across the country, and from an increase in the size of the

overall network. . . . We’re really excited about the stability this

creates.”

In Newport Beach, Prudential California Realty has offices on West

Balboa Boulevard, on Coast Highway in Corona del Mar, and at 23 Corporate

Plaza.