Swedish private equity backed Odevo today acquired HML / the Vegner Group, making it one smallish acquisition away from replacing FirstPort as the largest management outfit in the country.
The annoucement is here , making HML / the Vegner Group the fourth acquisition in two years after Rendall and Rittner, Premier and Trinity Estates, whose business overwhelmingly comes from developers.
On the other hand, HML / the Vegner Group almost wholly gets its business from leaseholder controlled management companies.
It is understood that the businesses will retain some autonomy and separate cultures, but the takeover is bad news for those who believe that the leasehold sector would benefit from a wide variety of different companies.
It means that Odevo now manages more than 300,000 properties, with FirstPort owned by French group Emeria managing around 320,000 – either as appointed managing agent to blocks of flats or, via “fleecehold”, owning private estate management companies.
Both groups now represent more than 50% of the membership of the managing agents’ trade body ARMA and very likely providing more than 50% of the income of the professional training body, the IRPM. Both ARMA and IRPM are attempting to rebrand as the Property Institute.
After the two giants, the next largest ARMA member manages a mere 40,000 properties, although there are some bigger non-members such as Countrywide with about 100,000.
Odevo is backed by a consortium consisting of the Swedish private equity fund Fidelio and family investment company L E Lundbergsforetagen AB. Companies House filings list Erika Martinson as controlling between 25% and 50% of the voting rights in Wexford HoldCo, Rendall & Rittner’s owner. According to Forbes magazine, Ms Martinson is a 14% shareholder in L E Lundbergsforetagen AB and is worth an estimated $1.8 billion.
https://www.lundbergforetagen.se/sv/vara-innehav
HML MD Alec Guthrie is quoted:
“The Vegner Group Ltd is a forward-thinking provider of collective services which includes property management via HML, Faraday and Dauntons Soar, building surveying via Shaw and Company Surveyors and a specialist service offering solutions to existing property professionals via Bhive Block Management Partners.
“The Vegner Group enhance the delivery of these services through their back-offices; B-hive Property Solutions, designed to support property professionals serving the leasehold market.
“The Vegner Group’s back-office solutions ensure compliance through our client finance and service charge accounting services and our “essential services” – many of which are for statutory or regulatory requirements that are necessary for buildings during the management life cycle. To date, the Vegner Group has experienced significant growth and has successfully expanded its portfolio, both organically and by acquisition.”
Related posts:
Managing agents owned by landlords must come clean … says leading managing agent
Do you REALLY know what your managing agent is charging you?
DCLG told ‘incentive to remain an honest managing agent gets less with each passing year’
The ARMA managing agent’s annual conference
Nigel Glen decamps to FirstPort, abandoning the ‘Property Institute’ (ARMA, IRPM)
We all agree, yet we are still waiting for the leasehold reforms promised years ago, says Katie Kendrick
Shame HML were incompetent when they managed my block but didn’t rip us off unlike the crooks who replaced them. Now they are owned by private equity they become crooks(if this hasn’t already happened).
What about y&y management and all the various Muscovitz companies. They seem to be hoovering up a lot of properties. Whee are they in the list?
The power of these companies is enormous.
Will LKP now remove HML from being accredited ?
Or is this the absolute end of regulation ???
In our block First Port manage it and services charges are far too high. How can we remove them? Many leaseholders don’t want to form a RTM is there another way? Plus our dr elopement managers lives in and we, the leaseholders have to pay her wages and her accommodation- approximately £35,000 p.a. How can we change this?
Linda,
Some Managing Agents are deliberately putting out misleading and often inaccurate statements about Right to Manage. RTM gives you the Legal right to appoint a Managing Agent of your choice, that is it and nothing more.
The Managing Agent of your choice will simply take over all the former Managing Agents duty’s and responsibility’s, and not The Residents. Anything that you or you Neighbours are told that is contrary to this is factually incorrect and untrue.
I wish we had gone RTM many Years ago because we would of saved a collective fortune. Since going RTM only eighteen Months ago we have achieved a 39.43% reduction in service charge payment , and the reserve fund has increased by + 12.12%.
When we went RTM our Development Manager choose to leave of her own free will, and was offered alternative employment elsewhere. The MA of our choice simply filled that vacancy from day one and retained all Contractors such as the cleaner, gardener, window cleaner and other Trades, etc. We hardly noticed the change but quickly enjoyed the benefits of being RTM.
In my experience the longer you maintain the status quo, the more it may cost you and your Neighbours.