THE VOICE OF NORTH AND WEST VAN

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MONTREAL TRUST announced Monday the acquisition
of North Shore-based Western Reality Investment Group
Led. as part of the company’s move to strengthen its real
estate presence in B.C.

The deal, which took approxi-
mately 18 months to complete, will
result in the amalgamation of
Montreal Trust’s West Vancouver
office with Western.

By TIMOTHY RENSHAW

News Reporter

Gary Brady, Montreal Trust’s
regional manager of real estate for

; MIKE WHEATER, 15, of West Vancouver, glides acrass the surf at Ambleside Beach. Mike is skimboarding — a sport which entails §
manoeuvring a piece of wood with bevelled edges along the water’s edge.

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B.C., said Monday the move will
significantly raise the company’s
real estate profile on the North
Shore.

It is, he said, a signal to other
North Shore rea! estate firms that
Montreal is making a strong com-
mitment to real estate in the area.

He added that Montreal plans to
open a second real estate outlet in

or on tidal pools.

company

North Vancouver by the spring of
1990 to complement Monday's
umalgamation.

The two offices will bring to
over 100 the number of Montreal
Trust realtors on the North Shore.

. Said Brady: ‘‘We believe the
North Shore is a very viable part
of the real estate market for us.’’

The company also plans to open

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in October a new realty office in
Burnaby’s Metrotown develop-
ment.

Western founder Trevor Ben-
nett, who will become the manager
of what will be Montreal Trust’s
new West Vancouver branch, said
Monday he was ‘‘very pleased and
contented with the result. It’s a
good agreement for everybody.
There are no wegative aspects to
it.”

Bennett said he was not actively
seeking to sell his company when
ne was initially approached by
Montreal Trust approximately 18
months ago.

The decision to sell, he said,
came after he was satisfied the of-
fer from Montreal would be a
“‘win-win-win’’ situation for his
staff, himself, and Western
clientele.

Bennett said Montreal Trust's
philosophy and attitude were simi-
lar to those of Western, and the
deal will provide Western’s staff
with the enormous financial and
service resources of a national
company.

Western was founded by Bennett
in February 1983. It grew quickly,

‘and currently employs a sales staff

of approximately 60 and. a total
staff of about 75.

Montreal’s North Shore branch
has a staff of 14.

The newly amalgamated Mon-
treal Trust operation will move in-
to Western’s present offices in
West Vancouver’s Kapilano 100
building by October.

Frank Kearney, the manager of
Montreal Trust’s North Shore real
estate branch, said the company
pursued Western because both it
and its founder were well-regarded
in the real estate industry.

in addition, he said, Western
had a service phiiosophy and real-
tor commission arrangement simi-
lar to Montreal’s.

“So it was an easy match,’’ he
said.

According to a company press
release, the amalgamation will in-
crease the overall size of its B.C.
real estate division by 25 per cent
and push total annual real estate
sales volume in B.C. to over $400
million. An estimated $200 million
of that total will be generated by
its new Western acquisition.

Montreal Trust, which operates
77 real estate offices and a total of
177 branches nationally, currently
manages assets of $43 billion.

The eastern-based BCE inc.
became Montreal Trust’s major
shareholder in April when it pur-
chased over 99 per cent of the
company’s outstanding shares.