The deal

Our Corporate Finance team has successfully advised London estate agency, Douglas & Gordon on the sale of the business to London’s leading estate agency, Foxtons Group plc (Foxtons) for £14.25m.

Established in 1958, Douglas & Gordon is a high quality London estate agent with a well-respected brand and large lettings business delivering around 65 per cent of total revenues from 2,900 tenancies. With 19 branches across central, west and south-west London, Douglas & Gordan’s team of 200 employees operate across many of Central London’s most sought-after neighbourhoods – from Notting Hill to Balham, and East Putney to Pimlico.

Our Corporate Finance team was appointed to complete a full sales process which involved marketing the business to both trade buyers and private equity investors. Multiple offers were received prior to entering into exclusivity with Foxtons. Once selected as a preferred partner, the team helped structure the deal and project manage the process through to a successful completion within just four months from initiation, delivering an excellent outcome for the owners.

The Directors believe that Douglas & Gordon will fit well with Foxtons’ existing business model due to its high level of customer services and compliance, strong fee integrity, well-establish landlord relationships and similar customer-focused and results-based culture.

The acquisition is in line with Foxtons strategy of acquiring high quality businesses with strong lettings books. The Douglas & Gordan business will continue to be run as a separate brand and with the existing management team, CEO James Evans and CFO Brian Smith, remaining in place. The team worked alongside David Coates at Charles Russell Speechlys, who acted as legal adviser to the shareholders at Douglas and Gordon.

“The team carried out a full analysis of our business and advised us accurately as to price level. Their marketing process was comprehensive and produced a number of offers. Once Heads of Terms were agreed with Foxtons, the team liaised with both parties and their lawyers to achieve completion of the sale within 5 weeks. All in all, an impressive professional service.” Michael Hodgson, Chairman and Shareholder of Douglas & Gordon.

“We are delighted to acquire Douglas & Gordon; a great business with a strong management team and significant potential for growth. The team ran a well-managed process, and this combined with their experience of deals in this sector and their approach to communication ensured we could get the deal done within a few weeks of signing Heads of Terms.” Richard Harris, CFO of Foxtons.

“This is the eighth successful completion led by the team in the real estate sector. The transaction really shows the value that a strong brand and recurring income from a large lettings portfolio brings to an agency. I have no doubt that the business will thrive in the Foxtons Group and under the continued leadership of James and Brian.” Clive Hatchard, FRP Corporate Finance.