Chestertons, which is itself currently on sale, has snapped up independent London Residential, a firm operating in the north west of the capital.
The deal, for an undisclosed sum, sees Chestertons absorb London Residential’s sales and lettings business into its existing Camden office.
This latest acquisition comes after Chestertons’ recent purchases of east London lettings business, Morgan Randall, and Fulham lettings agency, Snell & Snell.
Back in September Chestertons put itself up for sale with a price tag of £100m; Libyan businessman Salah Mussa, who bought Chestertons in 2005, instructed professional services firm Deloitte to find a buyer for the firm, which has 31 branches across the capital.
Of the latest acquisition, Chestertons chief executive Guy Gittins says: “We will continue to invest in acquiring independent agencies that have the potential to improve our London coverage. As a crucial element of our growth strategy, we are also investing in new technology and our ‘People and Culture’ department, which recruits, trains and develops the best people in the industry to ensure that our clients always get the best advice and the best service.”
He continues: “With extremely strong demand from buyers and tenants, our expansion and the coherent boost of our portfolio couldn’t have come at a better time. London Residential has grown an excellent reputation since it was established in 2003 and our acquisition is a vital step to support Chestertons’ industry-leading organic growth and will further accelerate our market share of 31 offices across London.”
Steven Govier, London Residential’s founder and chief executive, comments: “Nearly 20 years after setting up the business, I am glad to be able to pass it to a company with the history, reputation and vision of Chestertons. Chestertons is without doubt one of the top agencies in London and I know our clients will be in very capable hands and will be able to enjoy the benefits of Chestertons’ impressive processes and scale.”
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What an excellent time to sell and an absolutely atrocious time to buy.
buying someones business and having access to a vast database of past clients has massive value for agents looking to play the nurturing game. Driving branded tech into that prospective market will yield a return.
Sounds as though the deal is “book buying” rather than including additional premises etc and so Chestertons should be able to create “added value” from the transaction on many levels.
Well done, Chaps!! Good accretive acquisition.
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