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United Country Secures Investment
Capital
to Promote Accelerated Growth in 2006
February 28, 2006 – KANSAS CITY, Mo. –
United Country Real Estate announces
that the
company has secured growth capital to
support its expanding network of
affiliate offices through enhanced
marketing and ancillary services for the
benefit of its franchise partners.
“The decision to secure investment
capital from a strong investment group
was in support of our continuing growth
and a long standing goal to enhance the
value of our offering to both existing
franchise partners and to those
considering affiliation in order to
improve their business performance,”
stated Lou Francis, president of United
Country.
This announcement comes on the heels of
United’s late-January announcement
regarding record growth in 2005. The
company reports adding a record 113 new
affiliates to its network in 2005,
thus bringing the current tally to 526
offices across 35 states.
Given strong growth in recent years, it
was time for United Country to secure
investment
capital, according to Francis. The
company’s preeminent desire to preserve
a culture where employees, franchisees
and families take center stage resulted
in partnering with an investment group
led by Dan Duffy, a private investor
from Southlake, Texas;
Jared Brown of Herbert Brown and
Associates, Tampa, Fla.; Capital
Resource Partners of Boston, Mass.; and
Austin Ventures of Austin, Texas.
“United Country has been approached a
number of times over the past few years
by other investment groups interested in
purchasing the company. Until now,
United has declined all offers because
we did not feel that the ‘cultural fit,’
alignment of long-term vision and timing
were
right,” Francis said. “This time,
however, all the pieces fit.”
Post investment, Francis will continue
to run the day-to-day operations of the
business in his
role as president, and Carl Hopkins will
continue in his role as chief financial
officer. Duffy will
serve as the company’s Chairman of the
Board and chief executive officer,
focusing primarily on business
development, launching ancillary
services, and the identification and
deployment of technology to support the
franchise network.
“I am honored to be part of this
organization and am looking forward to
working with the team at United Country
as well as the franchisees to build on
the success they have experienced over
the past 80 years,” Duffy said.
United Country is the only national real
estate franchise system specializing in
residential, farm
and ranch, commercial and recreational
properties located in the small cities
and towns of rural America. With a
heritage dating back to 1925, the Kansas
City-based company has 526 offices
in 35 states and offers a national
database of properties at
www.unitedcountry.com.
NATIONAL
HEADQUARTERS
2820 NW Barry Road, Kansas City, MO
64154
816-420-6200 www.unitedcountry.com |
