The flurry of acquisitions continued last week as Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage purchased the assets of the Beazley Co.-Hamden. The acquisition of the affiliate of the former New Haven-based The William T. Beazley Co. follows Prudential Connecticut Realty’s August purchase of Beazley’s 16 corporate-owned offices.
“[Our acquisition] gives us an excellent presence in Hamden,” said Peggy Doepper, president and chief operating officer of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage in Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y.
The Beazley Co.-Hamden will be renamed as one of Coldwell Banker’s offices. The office has 40 sales associates who over the past 12 months accounted for almost $100 million in total closed sales volume. All 40 of the associates will be retained, Doepper said.
The company was a good cultural match for Coldwell Banker, she said. The company has offices in surrounding towns, but this will be its first in Hamden.
“To expand our presence in the growing Greater New Haven region and further serve the area’s real estate consumers, we sought out a leader highly regarded for providing first-class service, and we found an excellent match in Beazley-Hamden,” Doepper said in a prepared statement. “The company has continued to exceed their clients’ expectations, and we are delighted to welcome them into the Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage family.”
This is Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage’s fifth acquisition of the year. Over the summer it acquired Woodbridge-based Harriet Cooper Assoc. and Newtown-based Curtiss & Crandon Realtors, as well as Rochelle, N.Y.-based Marjorie Wohl-Town & Country.
In October it made the significant acquisition of Orange-based William Orange Realty, which also has offices in New Haven and Woodbridge.
The past year has seen both Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage and Prudential Connecticut Realty shopping around for smaller companies. In June, Rocky Hill-based Prudential merged with Waterford-based Pequot Properties, which also gained the company several offices in Rhode Island. The merger left Prudential with 47 offices in the two states. Pequot had 160 sales associates and offices in Danielson, Mystic, Norwich, Stonington Borough and Watch Hill, R.I.
The spate of acquisitions leave Prudential Connecticut and Coldwell Banker vying for the No. 1 spot in the state.
According to Coldwell Banker, the acquisition of the Beazley Co.-Hamden reinforces its position as the state’s leading residential real estate brokerage, with more than $5.8 billion in closed sales volume last year. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage now operates 41 offices with more than 1,600 sales associates statewide.
The Beazley Co.-Hamden’s managing partners, Ed Della Valle and his son, E. Tyler Della Valle, will continue with Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
“By joining Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, our sales team will be able to tap into tremendous marketing, technology and training opportunities that will enhance their ability to support customers,” said Ed Della Valle in a prepared statement.
In 1979, Ed Della Valle bought the agency as part of a franchise. He has grown the office into one of New Haven County’s top-producing agencies. The Hamden Chamber of Commerce recently awarded Beazley Company-Hamden its Business of the Year award.
Della Valle’s professional affiliations include seven years of service on the board of directors of the Greater New Haven Association of Realtors. He is a graduate of Quinnipiac University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in business.
E. Tyler Della Valle, who graduated from Hamden Hall Country Day School and Muhlenberg University with a bachelor’s degree in natural science and public administration, joined his father’s firm in 1991. He currently sits on the board of directors of the Greater New Haven Association of Realtors.
