Martin & Co parent firm buys Guild and Fine & Country for £15 million
Deal creates an estate agency giant with a combined network of some 2,000 branches and combined revenues of £70 million.
Upmarket estate agency Fine & Country and sister firm The Guild of Property Professionals have been bought for £15 million by The Property Franchise Group (TPFG), funded via a loan from Barclays Bank.
The acquisition creates an estate agency business with a combined network of nearly 2,000 branches and is part of an industry trend that has seen significant consolidation.
The Guild and Fine & Country provide services to a total of 1,036 outlets, of which 65 are international outlets, while TPFG has 910.
During the year ended 31 December 2023, the Guild and Fine & Country produced revenues of £13.2 million and profits before taxation of £3.3 million, it latest results show.
The combined businesses will see revenues in excess of £70 million and profits of £23 million.
Acquisition trail
TPFG, which used to be best known as the owner of Martin & Co, has been on the acquisition trail in recent years buying up firstly Hunters and more recently Belvoir.
“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 & Country licensees under an established and growing organisation, broadening TPFG’s geographical footprint,” says Guild CEO, Iain McKenzie.
“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”.
Revenue
Gareth Samples, CEO of TPFG adds: 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.”
The acquisition is also part of strategy from within Tosca, a city investment fund, to realise some of the money it has invested in Nurtur.group, the parent company of The Guild and Fine & Country. Tosca Fund is a major shareholder in Nurtur.group.
