French owner of Strutt & Parker ‘looking for buyer for estate agency’
Claim is made by Sky News, which says that BNP Paribas is sounding out potential buyers for the firm, which it bought in 2017.
The French company that owns upmarket estate agency Strutt & Parker is looking for a buyer for the 45-branch firm, it has been claimed.
Sky News reports that banking behemoth BNP Paribas has been sounding out potential buyers for Strutt & Parker, which employs over 800 staff in the UK.
BNP Paribas bought the agency in 2017 for an undisclosed sum, although experts have since estimated this to be approximately £125 million based on its annual profits at the time of £18m.
As the property market picks up and sales transaction levels return to a kind of normal after years of disruption from Covid and a limp economy, many financiers and big corporates are eyeing up estate agencies, with Lomond most recently under the spotlight.
There has also been heightened speculation that Foxtons may be sold by its shareholders, who have seen its financial and business performance under new boss Guy Gittins improve.
Many industry watchers will be keen to see Strutt & Parker exit BNP Paribas – many were shocked when the venerable estate agency was sold to a French firm with little experience in the residential sales and lettings sector.
Prime markets
Strutt & Parker was founded in 1885 and operates largely in the London prime markets as well as rural markets including country estates and agricultural where it manages some 1.5 miles acres of land, and also commercial including logistics and offices.
But there have been whispers that the cultures of the two firms have not mixed well and just a few years after the purchase, BNP Paribas put one of its seniors in charge of the estate agency – Etienne Prongué – who had little or no experience of UK property sales or lettings.
BNP Paribas has said it ‘does not comment on market rumour’ and both it and Strutt & Parker have not responded to requests for comment from The Neg.
