The deal

FRP Corporate Finance advises on major property sector transaction

We are pleased to have advised Harwood Private Equity on its sale of The Vegner Group, one of the UK’s leading property services businesses, to international property management group Odevo.

Headquartered in Richmond, London, The Vegner Group provides property management and building surveying services to property professionals and their clients, including residential asset management companies, property owners, landlords and developers. Its network of companies comprises back-office solutions experts B-Hive Property Solutions; HML, a specialist in the estate and block management sector; independent insurance brokers Alexander Bonhill; and residential management and building surveyors Faraday.

The business, which has 20 offices across the UK and employs around 475 people, has been backed by Harwood Private Equity since 2020. It has an annual turnover of £35million.

Headquartered in Stockholm, Odevo is a fast-growing international company challenging the property management industry by leveraging the combined power of people and technology. The foundation for the group was laid in 2019, with the formation of Swedish-based Nabo and SBC. The companies in the Odevo group provide traditional management services, but also develop new services and products to more than a million homes across the UK, Finland, Sweden and US.

The acquisition further expands Odevo’s UK presence following earlier acquisitions of Rendall & Rittner, Trinity Property Group and Premier Estates.  HML’s focus on servicing Residential Management Companies will also complement the current UK businesses within the Odevo group.

FRP Corporate Finance Partner Clive Hatchard, Director Richard Boyden and Senior Manager Chris King from our team in Reading acted as sell-side advisers to The Vegner Group’s shareholders, including Harwood Private Equity.

FRP Corporate Finance was appointed by The Vegner Group in recognition of the firm’s significant experience in transacting high-profile property deals in recent years. The deal represented the third property management sector transaction completed by FRP Corporate Finance within the last two years – including the successful sale of Trinity Property Group to Odevo in 2022, with each of the businesses sold by FRP Corporate Finance ranked in the top 10 biggest property management companies in the UK.

Clive Hatchard, Partner at FRP Corporate Finance, said: “The Vegner Group is an ambitious business with a market-leading reputation. Having successfully provided property management services to the residential sector for more than 50 years, its divisions cover a wide spectrum of specialisms and will bring additional firepower to Odevo’s existing UK operations.

“This sale represents another landmark deal for the UK property management sector. The market remains buoyant, with strong levels of consolidation and investor appetite for small to medium sized independent companies, driven by trends in tech innovation and increased regulation.”

Alec Guthrie, CEO of The Vegner Group, said: “Odevo is one of the fastest-growing and most exciting international challenger brands in the global property industry, and we’re thrilled that The Vegner Group will now be part of such a formidable force.

“FRP Corporate Finance has an outstanding reputation for transacting large-scale property-sector deals, having advised several of the leading players in the market in recent years. The depth of knowledge, skill, and experience that Clive and the team brought to the table was exceptional and they ensured a smooth process from the outset, through to completion.”