The Property Franchise Group
-
Latest property news
Belvoir reveals £200k legal bill for failed TPFG merger bid
Despite the knock-back, the franchising giant says its group profits before tax for 2017 were up by a staggering 62%.
Read More » -
Latest property news
£250m pumped into online estate agents so far by investors, claims TPFG
Extraordinary claim is made by parent company of Martin & Co and Ewemove in its upbeat annual results for 2017.
Read More » -
Latest property news
‘Clumsy’ lettings reforms will persuade more independents to sell, says Martin & Co boss
Franchised lettings giant Martin & Co says the looming lettings reforms announced last weekend is going to make it harder to stay in the game for many agents, and suggests many are considering selling up. The extra red tape, the government announced, will include mandatory training for agents, a compulsory code of conduct, a new regulator and a major overhaul of leasehold ownership. Ian Wilson (left), who is CEO of Martin & Co’s parent company The Property Franchise Group (TPFG), says: “The Government’s announcements at the weekend, although welcome and well-meaning, will probably be clumsily executed. “It’s going to be a lot of work to stay in the lettings game, so potential sellers should think hard about their best option”. TPFG is also helping its franchisees with finance to buy up independent rivals, Ian says, with “a well-oiled machine, and access to cash”. Examples this week of Martin & Co franchisees buying up local independent competition include purchases in Runcorn, Cheshire; Grantham, Lincolnshire; and Horsham, East Sussex. In Runcorn two local Martin & Co franchisees joined forces to buy TCG Residential, whose owner wanted a quick sale so that he could finance a round-the-world motorbike trip. And in Grantham, franchisee…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Exclusive: Ewemove reveals speed of its transformation into a high street operator
Countrywide take note – former online-only brand Ewemove has revealed the speed at which it is transforming into a high street-but-hybrid branch network. The company, which is now part of The Property Franchise Group (TPFG), has told The Negotiator that of its 120 franchisees, six are now branded high street branches while 24 are either operating out of existing franchisee’s businesses or are being operated within ‘serviced office’. This was revealed at its recent annual jamboree, at which 150 agents from Aberdeen to Barnstaple gathered at The Belfry conference centre on the outskirts of Birmingham to celebrate the hybrid agent’s fifth birthday. News of its genesis from the internet onto the high street was revealed by Managing Director Nick Neill. He is a former Ewemove franchisee who, after the company was bought by TPFG and its founders moved on, was appointed to the top job. The gathering also heard presentations from Peter Knight from The Property Academy, James Sinclair from Entrepreneurs Network, and Alex Rose from Hometrack. Later in the day Ewemove also held an internal awards ceremony during which Chris Walthall won Franchisee of the Year. He operates Ewemove’s Leek and Hanley franchise in Yorkshire. “Chris launched [his] business…
Read More » -
Features
Was it all purple? Who were the 2017 property industry winners and losers?
Overall the London Stock Exchange has risen by approximately 7% over the past 12 months although it featured some dramatic drops during February, May and September as Brexit has taken its toll. These have been mirrored within the property industry as both Brexit but also several much reviled government initiatives including higher Stamp Duty and the fees ban, have been announced. And the ten property sales and letting companies that list on the two main stock markets in London – the LSE and AIM – have been part of this story. Here’s how they’ve fared. Share prices Purplebricks – up by 152% After a stunning start to the year which saw its share price rise from £1.50 to £5.13 by August, a recent BBC investigation, several ASA reprimands and problems with review sites, investors have cooled their ardour for its stock, which finishes the year at £3.78p – but still 152% up on January. Savills – up by 41% While everyone’s been talking about Purplebricks, Savills share price has been skyrocketing without too many people noticing, up from £6.88 in January to £9.71 today – an increase of 41%, helped mainly by its global exposure to both booming commercial and…
Read More » -
Latest property news
It’s over! Belvoir pulls out of merger attempt with Martin & Co parent company
Franchise letting agency giant Belvoir has ended its attempted takeover bid for rival The Property Franchise Group (TPFG), parent company of Martin & Co and five other brands including hybrid agency EweMove. Belvoir today announced that it was ending its attempts to persuade TPFG shareholders to back Belvoir’s attempts to buy TFPF and merge the two businesses. Despite having considerable goodwill, Belvoir has admitted that without the support of the key TPFG directors and their share-owning backers a deal would be difficult, if not impossible. Belvoir’s statement confirming the withdrawal of the merger offer says: “The Belvoir board is disappointed that the TPFG board has declined to enter into a dialogue, not least given that the board itself has recognised the scale that would be achieved in combining the two businesses, and moreover, given a number of common institutional shareholders have publicly stated their support, in principle, for a dialogue between the boards of Belvoir and TPFG with regard to the Possible Merger Offer”. End of the bid The end of the bid to merge the two businesses has been prompted by the timetable that companies entering into a takeover must stick to, as set out in the City Code…
Read More » -
Latest property news
What went wrong? Belvoir reveals merger with TPFG DID have green light
Belvoir has responded to the brush-off delivered by The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) on 19th October which said the merger of the two businesses “would not be in the best interests” of TPFG. TPFG owns franchised lettings giant Martin & Co and online agency EweMove as well as CJ Hole, Ellis & Co, Parkers and Whitegates with a combined branch count of almost 300 and 50,000 tenanted properties. The board of directors at Belvoir says it is “disappointed” by the response and that the merger offer made by Belvoir was not an unsolicited one. Also, reading in between the lines of the statement, TPFG appears to have led Belvoir to believe the merger offer would be well received. Belvoir merger with TPFG Belvoir says there was previously a “willingness to engage in discussions expressed to the Board on more than one occasion by TPFG”. The company says its merger offer was structured to reflect these discussions, which included issuing 0.7150 new shares per TPFG share and 52.2p in cash per TPFG share, but says the cash element of the offer could be reduced and the number of shares increased to reduce the cost of the merger. Belvoir also says it…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Martin & Co brush off Belvoir merger offer, citing EweMove success
Martin & Co parent company The Property Franchise Group (TPFG) has today confirmed that it is rejecting yesterday’s Belvoir merger offer, citing the success of its hybrid arm EweMove, and its strong dividend performance. “The Board is confident in delivering further growth and returns to TPFG shareholders through both capital appreciation and its progressive dividend policy and sees no merit in any further discussions with Belvoir,” a statement from its board says. The statement also says the offer significantly undervalues TPFG, does not add any premium to TPFG’s shares, and that the cash offer would be funded through a new credit facility, “significantly increasing the level of debt in the enlarged group”. TPFG also says the company’s dividends to its shareholder have been stronger than Belvoir’s over the past three years, and that the extra debt would put this “under pressure”. TPFG also says that its EweMove business, which it bought last year in a £15m deal, puts it in a stronger position than Belvoir, which does not have an online or hybrid business. “We are pleased to report that [EweMove] has performed in line with management expectations since the half year and has been cash generative during this period,”…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Belvoir merger with Martin & Co put to shareholders
Franchise lettings giant Belvoir is to attempt a merger between itself and The Property Franchise Group, owners of Martin & Co, after it today made an official offer to start direct discussions with both TPFG and Belvoir shareholders. Belvoir’s directors believe a merger between the two franchise networks would be in the “best long-term interest of both companies and their respective shareholders”. But Belvoir has gone public with the proposed merger only after the TPFG board rejected its overtures despite having previously shown a willingness to engage on the subject, Belvoir says. The time is ripe for industry consolidation, Belvoir CEO Dorian Gonsalves (pictured left) says, hinting at the difficulties that may be ahead for the lettings sector following the fees ban later this year, and “that a more broadly based multi franchise group will be better positioned to leverage the opportunities in the sector and that the shareholders of the respective companies are looking for such leadership”. The proposed merger would, through a mixture of cash and shares, see TPFG shareholder take a 34.6% stake in a new enlarged group and create a UK property franchise group with 683 outlets and 108,000 tenanted managed properties. TPFG shareholders would receive…
Read More » -
Latest property news
Michael Stoop retires from The Property Franchise Group
Group Managing Director will continue as a consultant until June 2017.
Read More »
