Belvoir Group, the Grantham-based property franchise, has acquired the entire issued share capital of White Kite Holdings 2021 Limited and its two subsidiaries, White Kite Limited and Nicholas Humphreys Franchise Limited (collectively referred to as Nicholas Humphreys), for a total consideration of £4 million.
Nicholas Humphreys operates a national network of estate and lettings agents trading through 18 franchised and three East Midlands-based corporate-owned offices, relatively close to Belvoir’s Central Office in Grantham.
In addition to offering professional lettings and property sales, Nicholas Humphreys specialises in student lettings, giving an overall revenue split of 87% lettings and 13% sales. Its portfolio of 6,510 managed units provides a strong underlying recurring revenue stream.
Belvoir said the “key strategic driver for the acquisition is that, like the Belvoir Group, Nicholas Humphreys is based on a franchise model underpinned by lettings, making it a good fit for Belvoir’s multi-brand franchise strategy.”
The Nicholas Humphreys brand will operate alongside the Group’s other brands: Belvoir, Northwood, Newton Fallowell and Lovelle.
During the first quarter of 2021, the White Kite Group was restructured to remove the Nicholas Humphreys Loughborough business, this being the original office, which Nick Humphreys intends to continue operating.
In the year to 31 March 2020, based on unaudited accounts, trading from Nicholas Humphreys, as acquired, generated revenue of £2.8 million and operating profit of £1 million, and at that date had net assets of approximately £100,000.
The acquisition is expected to be earnings accretive in 2021.
Dorian Gonsalves, CEO of Belvoir, said: “The acquisition of Nicholas Humphreys demonstrates again that Belvoir is delivering on its strategic objective of investing in successful franchise businesses that are aligned with our multi-brand franchise model, where there is scope for further growth as part of the Group.
“With its bias towards lettings, the Nicholas Humphreys business is underpinned by a strong recurring revenue stream, whilst offering the opportunity to roll out Belvoir’s existing expertise in sales and financial services across the network.
“Having funded the acquisition from cash reserves, it will be immediately earnings accretive, driving enhanced returns for our shareholders.
“The business, founded in 1998, is a real credit to Nick Humphreys, who has built it into a highly successful franchise operation with full BFA accreditation.
“We extend a warm welcome to the Nicholas Humphreys staff and franchisees, and believe that as part of the Belvoir Group, we can strengthen further the offering to the Nicholas Humphreys franchises enabling them to achieve their own business growth potential.”
Nick Humphreys, Managing Director, said: “I would like to take this opportunity to thank our franchisees and staff for their part in building Nicholas Humphreys into the recognised brand that it is today.
“I have known for some time that Belvoir would be the right home for the Nicholas Humphreys network. Belvoir has the experience of both lettings and franchising to provide the necessary professional support to our franchisees and I look forward to seeing the network flourish as part of the Belvoir Group.”