Historic London estate agent Chestertons snapped up by French real estate group
London estate agent Chestertons has been bought by a French real estate and technology group, in the latest sign that deal making in the property sector is heating up.
The near 200 year-old estate agent was bought by Emeria, which is owned by Swiss private equity and property group Partners Group.
The firm is understood to have forked out around £100m for the London born group, according to reports in The Financial Times.
A joint statement from the pair read: “Chestertons, one of London’s largest estate agencies, has been bought by property services group Emeria for an undisclosed sum.
“In a move that will see substantial investment into expansion of the 200-year old business. Chestertons will now operate within Emeria UK’s ‘Campions’ division.”
It comes at a challenging time for the UK’s real estate sector with sales being battered by unruly mortgage rates offset by the central bank’s consistent interest rate hikes.
Estate agents are struggling to shift houses to new buyers as the put off buying a home until the economic storm passes.
According to Halifax’s latest September reading, house prices in the capital have fallen 4.8 per cent over the last year, the biggest fall of any region in cash terms at an average of £26,514.
CoStar called the acquisition of Onthemarket an “attractive strategic entry point” into the UK residential property market, with the deal representing a 56 per cent premium to the stock’s 70.5p closing price on Wednesday.
City A.M has contacted Emeria and Chestertons for a comment.