Foxtons has acquired a local agent in London for £2.2m.
London Stone, based in Woolwich and founded by Hilary Stone, primarily focuses on lettings and property management.
Its unaudited revenue and pre-tax profit last year was £1.5m and £0.7m. Gross assets at the end of the year were £4.3m.
Of the purchase money, paid in cash, £0.2m is deferred for 12 months.
Chris Beckwith, director of lettings acquisitions at Foxtons, said: “London Stone has a strong track record in lettings, a reputation for excellent customer service and committed knowledgeable people. It is a business we have long admired and we are looking forward to welcoming them to the Foxtons Group.
“London Stone has an attractive lettings book and will give Foxtons a wider presence in the dynamic south-east London market.
“Growing our lettings business is a strategic focus for the group and, over the medium term, we hope to find other similar high-quality businesses.”
Comments (3)
Clunk – cue obvious change in strategy – Foxtons as consolidator inside M25 – strange they hadn’t done this earlier.
And they appear to be paying 3x EBITDA which is pretty average
If you’ve got a business making £700K pre tax on £1.5m revenue I’d keep it – worth much more as income than capital
Worth more as income than capital. Well, yes. But if you have had enough of the endless sh*t being thrown at the PRS and Agency then a tidy lump sum and a short earn out might seem very, very attractive.
Good to hear some positive news. Well done Foxtons.