Marsh & Parsons Acquired by LSL
Friday, 04 November 2011
It has been announced today that LSL PS Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of LSL Property Services plc, (LSL) has acquired leading London estate and lettings agency, Marsh & Parsons, in a deal worth £50.0m.
The deal will provide LSL with significant opportunities to increase its exposure and growth potential in central London while allowing Marsh & Parsons to continue to flourish as a separate business and brand backed by the investment and support of LSL.
The future strategy for Marsh & Parsons will be to continue to grow both the sales and lettings business across London. Marsh & Parsons already has an impressive growth record which has seen the number of offices double in size and turnover increase fivefold in just six years. Moreover, in 2010 it was the overall winner of the prestigious Sunday Times ‘National Estate Agency of the Year’ Award. All Marsh & Parsons management and staff will be retained and, thus, for existing clients and customers it will be very much business as usual.
Chief Executive of Marsh & Parsons, Peter Rollings acquired the business in 2005 with fellow director Liza-Jane Kelly and investment from The Sherry FitzGerald Group, the leading Irish estate agency. Peter Rollings will continue to lead the business alongside Liza-Jane Kelly and other members of the Marsh & Parsons team. Sherry FitzGerald has now sold its entire shareholding in the company.
Simon Embley, Chief Executive Officer of LSL commented:
"Marsh & Parsons presents us with a great opportunity to increase our presence in the busy central London market but also offers significant growth potential – not just in residential sales but also in the very lucrative London lettings market. With Marsh & Parsons proven track record and expertise and LSL’s investment and support we believe we have a winning combination and the strong foundations on which to build and develop the brand in the future."
Peter Rollings, Chief Executive of Marsh & Parsons added:
"This acquisition is great news for Marsh and Parsons and both I and the entire management team are delighted with our new partners. This move will enable us to continue the development of our core business and increase our footprint further within the London marketplace. I have very much enjoyed working with Sherry FitzGerald, taking as we did, a well respected London brand with a 150 year old provenance and making it a modern, successful and progressive business. We now see this as a great opportunity to put further growth plans in place and welcome the part LSL will play in this exciting new chapter in the company’s long history."
ENDS
For further information, please contact:
LSL PR Manager, Melanie Cowell on 01904 715326 or 07968 604660
NOTES TO EDITORS
About Marsh & Parsons
Marsh & Parsons has been part of the London property scene since 1856. The sales and lettings agent has 15 offices situated in prime positions across central, west and south London. They have an intimate and extensive knowledge of the area.
Marsh & Parsons are an independent and professional firm with a 'can-do' attitude covering all aspects of residential property. They aim to establish individual relationships with clients through a business built on energy, agility, professionalism and knowledge. Their business aim is to be the agent who not only understands the local area around their offices better than any other agent, but also to be at the heart of the community.
About LSL Property Services Group
LSL is one of the leading residential property services companies in the UK and provides a broad range of services to its customers who are mortgage lenders, mortgage advisers as well as buyers and sellers of residential properties. It is a strong, well-capitalised group with a £75m pre-approved banking facility which made half year operating profits of £11.8m.
LSL’s core businesses are derived from the acquisitions which General Accident made between 1985 and 1988 when it acquired estate agency branches through acquisitions of local and regional estate agency chains.
LSL is now:
• The largest letting agent in the UK
• The largest residential surveyor in the UK with brands esurv, Barnwoods and Chancellors Associates
• The second largest estate agency in the market with brands including Your Move, Reeds Rains and Intercounty. Included in the three brands are the former Halifax estate agencies which LSL acquired in January 2010 and Goodfellows Estate Agency acquired by LSL in July 2010.
• The largest residential asset manager with LSL CCD and St Trinity
• One of the largest mortgage and protection distributors with financial advisers in First Complete, Linear, Reeds Rains and Your Move
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