Conveyancing giant in £30 million take over by rival firm
Smoove has accepted the multi-million pound offer from Aussie firm PEXA, subject to shareholder approval.
Conveyancing giant Smoove is to be taken over by a rival Australian firm in a £30.8 million deal.
PEXA has purchased Smoove through its UK subsidiary Digcom after a cash offer valuing each share at 54p, subject to agreement by Smoove’s shareholders.
Smoove’s directors have recommended approval of the takeover, it was announced in a statement to the London Stock Exchange.
Pain points
“Both Smoove and PEXA share the common goal of simplifying and enhancing the home moving process through digitalisation, significantly reducing transaction times, whilst simultaneously removing the pain points across the process,” the two companies said in a joint statement.
Smoove has connections with over 75 conveyancer firms on its eConveyancer platform, and around 2,100 conveyancing firms via lender panels.
Digcom also owns Optima Legal, a conveyancing firm that provides legal services in the UK remortgage market.
Fragmented
Martin Rowland, chairman of Smoove, says: “Both Smoove and PEXA share a common objective, to simplify and improve the home moving experience for consumers.”
Glenn King, MD and CEO at PEXA Group, says: “The acquisition and integration of Smoove into the PEXA UK business will further help us address the many detriments suffered by consumers due to the UK’s fragmented, inefficient conveyancing processes.”
New look
Smoove, which was formerly known as ULS Technology, is the platform used by thousands of estate agents.
The Smoove brand with a pink logo and hellosmoove.com website were created last year when the firm decided a new look was needed.
Loss
It reached a deal in June with leading mortgage broker MAB to provide home-buying comparison services.
In July, the firm announced a 7.4% increase in revenues to £20.6m, and a gross profit of £7.8 million. But it also revealed an underlying EBITDA loss of £4.8 million.
