Chestertons said on Tuesday that it is not in talks with Dexters about a possible takeover.
The London-based estate agency was responding to an article published on EYE yesterday that said Dexters are potentially in talks to buy 218-year-old estate agent Chestertons.
“I can affirm and confirm that the story in PIE about Chestertons and Dexters is categorically false. There is not one word of truth in it, David Colvin, Cherstertons’ chief data officer told EYE.
“I have no knowledge of conversations with Dexters, John Ennis [company CEO] has had no correspondence with Dexters of any kind while at Chestertons, and the chairman confirms that he has had no back-channel talks,” he continued.
EYE was contacted by several well-placed sources over the weekend informing us that Dexters had opened talks to acquire Chestertons, with a potential bid being lined up.
We approached Dexters seeking further information, and the estate agency refused to confirm nor deny that talks were taking place with Chestertons.
“Dexters are experts in acquiring estate agency businesses and are regularly talking to business owners as they have a strong reputation for completing deals confidentially,” a company spokesperson told EYE.
The last time EYE approached Dexters following a tip-off was on 16 January 2023, after we were informed by another well-placed source that the company had agreed a deal to buy Marsh & Parsons.
A Dexters spokesperson at the time insisted that the estate agency was not buying Marsh & Parsons, only for the company to announce nine days later that a deal had been completed, creating a £180m 150 office firm – making Dexters London’s largest estate agent chain.
But despite Dexters’ refusal on this occasion to deny that the firm is in talks to potentially buy Chestertons, Colvin was keen to squash the speculation.
“It [takeover talks] is simply not true,” he added. “We have multiple new starters this week and next who are coming from Dexters and they are concerned.
“No one here wants to work for [Dexters’ chairman] Jeff [Doble]!”
Dexters believed to be in talks to buy Chestertons
