French banking and financial services giant BNP Paribas has announced its acquisition of Strutt & Parker, signalling an expansion into the UK property market.
 
The acquisition is set to me completed within two months, according to the banking group, and will merge the UK subsidiary of BNP Paribas Real Estate with Strutt & Parker.
 
Strutt & Parker is currently the second biggest player in the UK rural market and third in residential, with 60 offices across the UK.
 
Commenting on Tuesday, Thierry Laroue-Pont, CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate, said, “We are delighted to have this opportunity to create a new major real estate player that combines the skills of our two companies. This combination will enable us to offer our clients, all over the world, a broadened and deeper expertise as well as new, even more innovative services and solutions. In this new stage of development, we shall carefully take into consideration the expectations of both groups’ employees and clients.”
 
Andy Martin, Senior Partner at Strutt & Parker, added, “I am very keen on the idea of uniting our brand with the strength of BNP Paribas Real Estate. It gives us a distinguishing feature and a new impetus in a constantly-evolving global market. I have been impressed by the respect that they have shown for our values, and by their emphasis on the relationship with employees and clients across all our business sectors.

“This merger not only creates attractive commercial real estate opportunities, but also opens up new prospects in the rural and residential sectors thanks to the size and strength of the group that we are creating together.”
 
After the merger, Strutt & Parker’s residential, rural, development and planning teams will continue to operate under the Strutt & Parker brand, whilst the commercial arm of the business will operate under the BNP Paribas Real Estate brand.