One of the largest groups of British real estate agencies is to develop plans for a sale of 800 million pounds sterling in the middle of speculation that Rachel Reeves, the Chancellor, plots a new tax raid on owners in her fall budget.
Sky News has learned that LRG, which belongs to the American Platinum Equity redemption, is treated for an auction that would take place in the coming months.
Rothschild bankers were appointed by Platinum to supervise conferences with potential bidders.
Platinum acquired LRG, which has brands such as Acorn, the Chancellors and Stirling Ackroyd, in January 2022.
The group of real estate agencies, which manages residential sales and rentals, is negotiated by more than 350 branches and employs around 3,500 people.
City sources said this weekend that Platinum thought that a business assessment of more than 700 million pounds sterling was achievable in a sale.
The investor in investment -based in the United States bought LRG – then known as the Group – Bowmark Capital leaders, a small buyout business.
The tenderers of this auction are also likely to include financial investors.
Some of the LRG brands have a long history in the British real estate industry, Portico retracing its origins in 1818.
The company, now led by CEO Michael Cook, manages 73,000 properties and has managed sales of goods worth 3.6 billion pounds sterling last year.
Although the potential LRG bidders have already started to be sounded, an auction of the group should take several months to conclude.
Industries such as the bank, housing and game have been seized by suggestions that the Chancellor will target them in order to increase tens of billions of pounds in additional income.
Last month, housing prices unexpectedly dropped – although only 0.1% – in the midst of economists’ warnings on the impact of speculation on a tax raid on owners.
Over the past two months, reports have suggested that Ms. Reeves and her treasury officials are considering measures such as a redesign of stamp duties, a manor tax and the end of the element of the primary residence for the properties greater than a certain value.
Its budget, which will take place at the end of November, is even more than two months, which suggests that significant discussions with bidders for companies such as LRGs will have little until the impact of new tax measures has been properly digested.
Robert Gardner, Director General of Nationwide, the largest construction company in the United Kingdom, said that the land tax reform was late.
“Housing prices are still high in relation to household income, which makes the deposit of a dispute for potential buyers, in particular given the intense pressure on the cost of living in recent years,” he said earlier this month
The British real estate agency market remains relatively fragmented, with groups such as LRG to a myriad of acquisitions of small players with less than a handful of branches.
Among the other major market operators, Dexteurs – which is chaired by the former boss of J Sainsbury, Justin King – is also supported by investors of investment capital in the form of Oakley Capital.
Few real estate agents now have their stocks listed on the stock market, with the group of Foxons, one of the most eminent real estate agents in London, worth 168 million pounds sterling.
Platinum Equity refused to comment.