Dexters snaps up Marsh & Parsons for £29million
Dexters has snapped up fellow London agent Marsh & Parsons from LSL Property Services for £29 million making the combined group the biggest estate agent in the capital.
Dexters has snapped up fellow London agent Marsh & Parsons from LSL Property Services for £29 million making the combined group the biggest estate agent in the Capital.
The deal adds 30 offices and over 300 staff to the Dexters portfolio, giving the business an annual turnover of over £180 million and handling over 35,000 property transactions every year.
Dexters will retain the Marsh & Parsons brand name and plans to double the size of the business in line with its own expansion plans.
ESTABLISHED
Andy Shepherd, Chief Executive of Dexters, says: “Dexters has acquired Marsh & Parsons because we admire the business which is a well-established London brand.
“We plan to double the size of Marsh & Parsons, developing a market leader that stands apart from the competition.”
The group now has more local offices and a greater presence than any other estate agency in London.”
Justin King, Chairman of Dexters, adds: “The group now has more local offices and a greater presence than any other estate agency in London.”
LSL
Marsh & Parsons had gross assets of £28 million and a profit of £1.8.million for the 2021 financial year. LSL says the disposal will help the group support further opportunities in the financial services sector while retaining its commitment to its wider agency brands.
David Stewart, LSL Chief Executive, says: “Marsh & Parsons trades only in Prime and Outer Prime Central London and is operated autonomously from other parts of our estate agency business.
“This disposal helps to further simplify the Group structure to allow us to focus on maximising our core opportunities, particularly in our Financial Services Network business, whilst also reducing exposure to the more volatile London housing market.
We remain committed to developing the remaining LSL Estate Agency brands.”
“Following this disposal, we remain committed to developing the remaining LSL Estate Agency brands, where there is greater synergy with the rest of the Group, and opportunities for growth.”
FOUNDED
Marsh & Parsons was founded in 1856 and originally led by William Marsh and Frederick Parsons.
The involvement of the founding families in the business ended in 1956 and since 2011 Marsh & Parsons has been owned by LSL when it acquired the business for £50 million, according to reports.
Dexters was founded in 1993 and has 120 offices and over 1,700 colleagues, with the group currently looking after over 30,000 landlords and facilitating more than 28,000 property transactions across London every year.
In February 2021 the estate agent announced a partnership and major financial backing from Oakley Capital with a growth strategy of opening further offices and building market share through the acquisition of other competitors, alongside expanding the group’s digital presence and services.
Earlier this month Dexters opened nine new offices in the south east of the Capital.
I’m not sure how Dexters gets away with calling themselves independent anymore, that seems like an advertising standards issue to me.
75%+ of Dexters Ltd is owned by Dexters NewCo Ltd, 75%+ of which is owned by Dexters MidCo Ltd, 75%+ of which is owned by Dexters HoldCo Ltd, 75%+ of which is owned by Dexters TopCo Ltd, 50-75% of which is owned by the Bahamas-based owner of Oakley Capital. Pick that apart. It’s not quite the same as when Jeff Doble owned 75%+ of Dexters Ltd, is it?
Is being majority-owned by Private Equity independent? Expect Dexters to be bundled up with other brands, increase their fees to clients, and squeeze the life out of their staff. And then for Oakley Capital and Dexters board to rake it in when they either float or sell to a bigger PE firm in a few years’ time.