LONDON (Alliance News) - Property franchise group MartinCo PLC on Tuesday said it has acquired hybrid estate agency franchisor EweMove Sales & Lettings Ltd for up to GBP15.0 million.
MartinCo said the acquisition will operate as a subsidiary of the group and is "highly complementary to its existing business".
EweMove's franchise model combines the recruitment of local property experts with a centralised technology platform, and the traditional features of a full estate agency service with a consumer fee structure predicated on completed sales rather than listings.
The company generated revenue of GBP1.7 million for the year ended June 30 and pretax profit of GBP120,000, based on unaudited accounts, MartinCo said.
The acquisition will add 90 franchisees to MartinCo's network of 287 trading offices, the company said.
MartinCo said it was paying GBP5.0 million in cash for EweMove, using existing resources and debt drawn down from its exiting facility, and an additional GBP3.0 million through issuing 2.3 million shares.
A deferred consideration o GBP7.0 million will be payable dependent on performance criteria linked to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation for the enlarged group for the full year ended December 31, 2018.
"This acquisition provides the group with a strategically important foothold in the rapidly developing market for online estate agency and letting services. We see the acquisition as complementary to the wider group strategy with the hybrid model, a people business which combines an online platform with truly local presence and customer service focus, differentiating it from other online offerings," said Chief Executive Ian Wilson.
Shares in MartinCo were up 4.7% at 145.00 pence on Tuesday.
By Hannah Boland; hannahboland@alliancenews.com; @Hannaheboland
Copyright 2016 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
