NEW ORLEANS — Latter & Blum, the largest independently owned residential real estate company in the Gulf South, said Wednesday it has acquired Gardner Realtors.
The purchase price was not disclosed.
Gardner Realtors, opened by pioneering female realtor Gertrude Gardner in 1943, now has 800 agents operating in 24 offices across south Louisiana and Mississippi.
Gardner Realtors, which is now run by Gardner's son, grandchildren and other relatives, will take the Latter & Blum name as part of the deal.
Latter & Blum, which was founded in New Orleans in 1916, says the acquisition - creating a network of over 3,700 real estate associates - will make it the 20th largest real estate group in the country. Led by president and CEO Lacey Merrick Conway, it will also be the second largest female-led brokerage out of 85,000 real estate companies in the United States.
“We are thrilled to combine forces with Gardner Realtors, a company who has built a trusted brand for decades and upheld its longstanding tradition of excellence in real estate,” said Conway in a statement.
The companies also touted their status as family-owned and operated businesses who share a common history and culture in the city.
“By joining our people, cultures, shared histories and mutual respect for each other, we are now one unified force of good and independence in our local communities,” said Glenn M. Gardner, President and CEO of Gardner Realtors.
“We are the two leading local real estate families coming together to carry out our mission in even greater ways of helping our clients and Realtors build the life they love," he said in a news release.
