The Real Brokerage Inc., an international, technology-powered real estate brokerage based in Toronto, today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire LemonBrew Lending Corp. from LemonBrew Technologies Corp.
Under terms of a share purchase agreement dated Sept. 23 between Real, LemonBrew Lending, and LemonBrew Technologies Corp., Real will acquire 100% of the issued and outstanding equity interests of LemonBrew Lending for an aggregate purchase price of $1.25 million (USD). The purchase price will be satisfied by cash in the amount of $800,000 (USD) and the “issuance of such number of common shares of Real equal to the product of $450,000 (USD) divided by the five-day volume weighted average trading price of Real’s common shares on the NASDAQ immediately prior to the closing of the acquisition,” the company said.
Completing the acquisition is subject to a number of further conditions precedent, Real said, including, but not limited to: executing an employment and consulting agreement between Real and certain key officers and employees of LemonBrew Lending; regulatory approval, and other customary closing conditions.
The acquisition has been approved by the board of directors for both Real and LemonBrew Technologies, but is subject to customary closing conditions, including regulatory approvals, and is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Real said the acquisition marks the next step in its strategy to develop a seamless end-to-end home buying experience.
LemonBrew Lending is a tech-enabled home loan platform, licensed to provide a full suite of mortgage services across 20 states in the U.S., including Texas, California, and Florida. The company currently operates as a mortgage brokerage, serving as an intermediary between borrowers and lenders.
Additionally, LemonBrew Lending is licensed as a lender in certain states, positioning Real with the option to expand its mortgage platform as long-term strategic needs for the business evolve, the company said.
LemonBrew began as SD Capital Funding, a New Jersey-based mortgage company that in July 2020 rebranded to LemonBrew Lending. Headquartered in New Jersey with several offices throughout the country, LemonBrew Lending also aggressively expanded its loan origination contact center in Charlotte, N.C.
Before rebranding, SD Capital Funding earned the Quicken Loans Mortgage Services (now Rocket Mortgage) Top Partner Award for 2019.
Real said that, as part of its acquisition, LemonBrew Lending CEO Samir Dedhia and all 25 other LemonBrew employees will join its team.
"We are excited to be joining forces with The Real Brokerage,” Dedhia said. “Real’s technological vision for the future of integrated homebuying is what drew us to the platform. This industry is ripe for disruption, and together we can make a huge impact.”
Tamir Poleg, Real chairman and CEO, welcomed the LemonBrew staff to the team at Real. “LemonBrew Lending will play a meaningful role in achieving our vision to reimagine what home buying can be,” Poleg said. “With LemonBrew Lending’s current mortgage capabilities and future lending potential, we can now layer in another key building block to our consumer-facing strategy and take a significant stride towards developing a frictionless home buying experience.”
The Real Brokerage Inc. delivers a cloud-based platform to improve efficiencies and empower agents to provide a seamless end-to-end experience for homebuyers and sellers, the company said. It was founded in 2014 and serves 44 states, D.C., and two Canadian provinces with over 6,000 agents.
