The estate agency business Roberts & Co has been bought as a going concern out of administration.

The buyer is Pinkmove, a highly successful local competitor in Newport, South Wales, which has recently acquired two other, unrelated, agency businesses as it seeks to expand.

Pinkmove, owned and run by Paul Cleverly, moved quickly to close the deal, registering a company called Roberts Estate Agents Wales on February 20.

Administration started on February 10, meaning that the entire deal has been put together and the purchase completed within days.

The name ‘Roberts’ will continue to be above the door of the ten offices – one of which is a franchise.

Cleverly said he had paid market price for the business. He told EYE: “We will consolidate the branches down to five and there will be some redundancies, but we will try to preserve as many jobs as possible.

“It is a business with a good name, being one or two in the areas where it operates, and there was a lot of interest in the sale. However, it was losing a lot of money – at the rate of £25,000 a month – and needs attention.”

The Roberts & Co business, founded by well known estate agency figure Alan Darlow MBE, had a winding up petition brought against it by HMRC, but had apparently already called in administrators.

The business was established in 2002 and currently employs some 60 staff.