ABC Business Sales has been named Business Broking Office of the Year - Large at the 2026 REINZ Awards for Excellence, held Tuesday 15 September at Auckland's Viaduct Events Centre. The team took out three wins from the four categories it was eligible to enter, plus three further finalist places.
Who won what: ABC's 2026 REINZ Awards results
- Business Broking Office of the Year - Large - ABC Business Sales
- Business Broking Salesperson of the Year - Linda Harley
- Business Broking Deal of the Year - Daren Leng & Ben Smith
Munish Verma placed as runner-up for Salesperson of the Year. Doug Chetwynd and Matt Kirke placed second and third in the Business Broking Rising Star Salesperson of the Year category.
What is REINZ Business Broking Deal of the Year?
Deal of the Year is new to the REINZ Awards this year. It recognises an outstanding business broking transaction completed by a broker. Daren Leng and Ben Smith took it out for a deal that ran across multiple stakeholders and both sides of the Tasman to get to settlement.
It was Leng's first awards nomination.
"Having been a business broker for 12 years now, this is my first award nomination at REINZ, and it was a great feeling to actually win the award and step up onto the stage to receive it," Leng says. "For me it is in recognition of all the hard work and relationship building over this time, which has helped me in dealing with business sales of this scale."
Leng still remembers his first sale clearly. It sold for a little over $100,000, and it taught him lessons that shaped the winning deal too, twelve years later: a well-documented information memorandum, finding the right buyer for the opportunity, and staying hands-on through the process.
"Fast forward 12 years and these were key things on the successful sale of the Deal of the Year as well," he says, "in addition to running a highly competitive sale process, which exceeded the vendor's expectations."
For Ben Smith, the win reflects a gap he set out to fill in the market: mid-market business owners caught between the traditional broker model and what the large advisory firms offer.
"Last night was proof of the unique capability I've built for private business owners in the $5m-$50m value range," Smith says. "Looking forward to building on it."
Linda Harley wins Salesperson of the Year for the fifth time
This is Linda Harley's fifth REINZ Business Broking Salesperson of the Year title, and it comes off the back of a standout year that also saw her take ABC's own Salesperson of Year award in May this year.
Linda’s built a name for herself working with New Zealand's childcare and early learning owners, a sector where the people on both sides of a sale often know each other long before a business ever comes to market.
"It is a privilege to work alongside people as they navigate what can be some of the biggest decisions of their professional and personal lives," she says. "I'm proud to continue helping New Zealand's childcare owners buy, sell and succeed."
Munish Verma named Salesperson of the Year runner-up
Munish Verma placed as runner-up for Salesperson of the Year, working closely with childcare business and commercial property owners, buyers and investors across Auckland.
"Being recognised at the 2026 REINZ Awards as Business Broking Salesperson of the Year runner-up was both an honour and an incredibly rewarding milestone," Verma says. "For me, however, the true measure of success is the trust clients place in you when navigating what is often one of the most significant financial decisions of their lives."
He puts the result down to understanding his clients' businesses and aspirations, being available locally, and staying closely involved from first conversation to settlement. That approach delivered some standout results in Auckland's ECE sector this year.
"Another highlight of the evening was the strength of ABC's performance across the Business Broking awards," he says. "Seeing so many of our people recognised, and ABC named Large Business Broking Office of the Year, was a proud moment for us all. It reflected the depth of experience and commitment across our wider team."
What ABC's REINZ Awards win means for NZ business owners
For ABC Managing Director Chris Small, a night like this isn't really about the trophies. It's about the New Zealand business owners who handed over something they'd spent years building, and trusted one of our brokers to see them through it.
That's especially true of the Office of the Year win. REINZ reshaped the Business Broking categories this year, redrawing the criteria so each brokerage was judged against a tighter, more accurately matched field.
Backing up our 2025 win with another Large Office of the Year title is something the whole team can be proud of, and it means something a bit different to an individual award: a business owner walking into any ABC branch, in any city, can feel confident the backing of a 40-year, nationwide operation stands behind them, wherever they are.
"Every award on that stage started as a nervous first conversation with someone who wasn't sure who to trust with one of the biggest calls of their working life," Small says. "That's really what's being judged here, not the size of the deal, but whether we earned that trust and looked after them properly."
"Linda, Daren and Ben, Munish, Matt, Doug, this list only tells half the story," he says. "Every one of those results is built on work most people never see."
"I'm genuinely proud of where the team landed this year. There's plenty more to aim for, more owners we can help when it's their time to sell, and a bar we can keep raising for the rest of the industry."
Thinking about what your next step might look like?
If you are considering selling a business in New Zealand, whether that is now or a few years away, it helps to know you're working with a team that's just been recognised as the best in the business.
In our experience, the best place to start is with a conversation. With more than 70 brokers across the country, backed by another award-winning year, we are here to help you understand your position, your options, and what a strong sale could look like.
→ Talk to an ABC broker about what’s possible for your business
→ Request a confidential appraisal to understand your value and where you stand in the market
→ Learn how to prepare your business for sale and achieve a stronger result