A London-listed property group that has embarked on a string of deals this year is looking forward with “confidence and excitement” as a top executive announces retirement.
The Property Franchise Group, which held its AGM this morning, said the first half of the year had been “transformational”, after a deal for Belvoir Group in March and The Guild of Property Professionals.
It also snapped up Fine & Country this week. TPFG agreed to pay £15m upon the completion of the deal and a further £5m on the first anniversary.
The tie-up is set to create a combined network of more than 1,946 outlets and give TPFG an international footprint for the first time, with Fine and Country operating in 193 UK locations and 65 locations across Europe, Africa, Asia and Australia. The two businesses are due to keep operating under their existing brands.
Speaking ahead of its AGM, nonexecutive chairman Paul Latham said the financial year “started with good momentum and that has continued to build.”
TPFG’s chair, which is now the largest multi-brand property franchisor, said its “longstanding businesses have traded in line with our growth objectives” with lettings’ revenue growing at a similar pace to last year, and sales-agreed pipine up by a quarter.
Latham said the two deals, “we now have one of the most experienced management teams in the sector” which “will help us to both integrate and leverage our breadth of capabilities to enhance revenues across the businesses.”
Looking ahead to the 4 July vote, he said: “We are cognisant of the pending general election which may impact the sales market’s recovery over the summer as well as some broader headwinds.”
“Notwithstanding these uncertainties, we are confident of driving our organic growth, delivering the expected synergies from our recent acquisitions and developing new additional revenue streams.”
“For these reasons, the board looks to the future with confidence and excitement about the further value we can deliver for all stakeholders from our increased scale and ongoing ambition.”
In its results last week, TPFG saw revenue of £61.5m and a pretax profit of £18.1m last year, while the assets being acquired generated £13.3m in revenue and £3.3m in profit.
The firm also announced that David Raggett, its long-standing chief financial officer, has informed the board of his intention to retire at or around the end of calendar year 2025.
After 12 years with the company, it announced he did so”mindful of the time it may take to identify a suitably qualified successor. “
The deals are the latest example of consolidation within the sector as it grapples with a housing market downturn and looming cuts to interest rates fuel a pickup in dealmaking activity. Other firms subject to takeover speculation include Strutt & Parker, Lomond Group and London-listed Foxtons.
This morning, it was announced that house prices are relatively stable, while earlier in the week, construction figures showed a two-year high.