Marsh & Parsons Limited / LSL Property Services

Marsh and Parsons, one of London’s leading and best known estate agencies has been sold to LSL Properties Services plc. The sale process, which was handled by Cavendish Corporate Finance LLP, resulted in a consideration of approximately £53 million. Marsh & Parsons, will continue to operate as an independent brand within the LSL Group.

Marsh & Parsons, which can trace its roots back to 1856, was acquired in 2005 by Sherry Fitzgerald Group, Dublin’s largest estate agency, and the management team, led by Peter Rollings. Since then the firm has grown to 15 offices across Central, South and West London. In the year ended 31 December 2010 revenues were £23.3 million and EBITDA £6.7 million.

In April 2011 Cavendish was appointed by the shareholders to sell Marsh & Parsons. It attracted strong interest from a wide range of buyers including private equity groups, high net worth individuals and both UK and international trade buyers identified by Cavendish and fellow alliance members of M&A International.

Key to the selection of LSL as the preferred bidder was its’ ability to offer a synthetic private equity structure. This gave the management team the independence and economic upside of a private equity deal while benefitting from the secure funding and long term commitment of a strategic buyer. This will enable Marsh & Parsons to continue its roll –out of an expanded branch network across Greater London and beyond in the years ahead.

Peter Gray, a Partner at Cavendish, led the transaction supported by fellow Partner Raymond Fagan and Director Andrew Jeffs.

Michael Baulk, Chairman of Marsh & Parsons commenting on the result achieved by Cavendish:

‘We had tremendous support from the Cavendish team throughout the sale process. I believe we have been very well advised and that their perspectives and experience at the inevitably tricky moments were enormously valuable.’

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