The Property Franchise Group, one the UK’s largest sales and lettings groups, has snapped up estate agency chain Fine and Country in the latest industry tie-in for a cool £20m.
Bosses of the franchise have expressed ‘excitement’ at their continued growth following the acquisition of The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine and Country earlier this week.
The combined business, which will compromise a network of over 1,800 outlets across the country and overseas, is the latest in a series of mergers that has seen the group buy out it’s biggest industry rival, Belvoir, in March of this year. Despite the real estate downturn, Belvoir was reported to show ‘promise’ as it was primed for growth in the UK markets in November last year. However The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) made a swoop for their industry adversary in January in an unprecedented ‘twist’ – according to the Investors Chronicle.
The Belvoir coup saw TPFG become one of the largest franchised lettings and sales groups in the UK.
TPFG has agreed to pay £15m on completion of the deal and a further £5m on the first anniversary – the two new assets are being purchased through licencing model Nurtur, who provide technology to the sector.
Iain McKenzie, commenting on behalf of The Guild of Property Professionals and Fine and Country,said:
“Myself, Nicky Stevenson and the Senior Management Team are genuinely delighted and excited by the opportunities created by our two businesses coming together, placing The Guild Members and Fine and Country Licensees under an established and growing organisation, broadening TPFG’s geographical footprint.
“We have a proven track record of delivering innovation and marketing services to our Members and Licensees, and as a consequence of now being part of a larger group our customers will benefit from existing supplier partnerships, allowing us to introduce significant additional benefits”.
The industry fusion will give TPFG the opportunity to expand it’s geographical footprint, as Fine and Country’s operations span across 193 national locations and 65 additional locations covering Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The groups will continue to run under their current branding.
Gareth Sample, CEO of TPFG added: “The latest acquisition continues to deliver on our wider strategy of delivering breadth and depth to our network, further enhancing TPFG’s recurring revenue streams. I am really excited about working alongside Iain McKenzie and the team to continue the growth across the Group and providing additional benefits to our network”.
TPFG saw revenue of £61.5m and a pretax profit of £18.1m last year, while the assets being acquired generated £13.3m in revenue and £3.3m in profit according to the Financial Times.
