A North East estate agency has confirmed it is in talks with a rival amid plans for a potential merger.
Newcastle based LSL Property Services – owner of well-known high street brands Reeds Rains and Your Move – is one of the 海角视频’s biggest estate agencies.
Now LSL and London-based Countrywide, owner of Bairstow Eves and other brands, have told shareholders they are in talks to explore the possibility of an all-share combination.
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The talks - which come as the estate agency business is being hugely disrupted by online technologies - have prompted fears of job losses, with the companies operating more than 1,000 branches between them and having more than 14,000 employees.
LSL, which provides estate agency services, financial services and also has surveying businesses, announced on the Stock Exchange: “In view of the recent press speculation regarding Countrywide plc and the announcement by Countrywide, the board of LSL Property Services plc confirms that it is in discussions with Countrywide regarding a possible all-share combination.
“Discussions between Countrywide and LSL are ongoing. At this stage, there can be no certainty that any offer will ultimately be made for Countrywide.
“LSL reserves the right to introduce other forms of consideration and/or vary the mix or composition of consideration of any offer. Further announcements will be made in due course as appropriate.”
LSL has until 5pm on March 23 to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Countrywide or announce that it does not intend to make an offer.
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The announcement comes a few weeks after the Newcastle firm’s full year trading update in which it said it expects operating profit for 2019 to be slightly ahead of the board’s expectations and slightly ahead of last year, which it said marked “a highly resilient performance in the context of challenging residential market conditions”.
At the time it said group revenues for the year decreased by 4% including the impact of the reshaping of the Your Move and Reeds Rains branch networks.
Last year LSL instituted a major restructuring which saw almost 500 people losing their jobs and dozens of sites closed as part of a shift to larger “keystone” branches.
Countrywide has seen its value slump over the last year after instituting a turnaround plan and signalling a weak housing market.