London estate agency Dexters has snapped up rival Marsh & Parsons for £29 million to create what it claims will be London’s biggest chain.

The takeover will create a network with 150 offices, 2000 staff and handling £5 billion of deals a year.

Marsh & Parsons, which was sold by property services group, LSL, was founded in 1856 making it one of London’s oldest estate agencies. It has 30 offices mainly in central London and is known for its eye-catching advertising campaigns.

Dexters said the brand will be retained and the number of branches doubled over the next few years.

The new combined business will have an annual turnover of over £180 million and will process more than 35,000 property transactions annually.

Dexters,founded in 1993 and led by CEO Andy Shepherd has 120 offices and over 1,700 colleagues. it is chaired by former Sainsbury’s boss Justin King.

Mr Shepherd said: “Dexters has acquired Marsh & Parsons because we admire the business which is a well-established London brand with a loyal following of clients and has a very similar culture to DEXTERS with a focus on providing customers with strong local expertise across the capital. We plan to double the size of Marsh & Parsons, developing a market leader that stands apart from the competition.”

The deal came as one of Dexters’ biggest rivals Foxtons reported revenues grew last year by 11% to £140 million but warned of a “more challenging” first half in 2023.

In a year end trading update chief executive Guy Gittins said: “Much has been achieved in a short period and it is great to see some of the team’s hard work reflected in the 2022 results. The economic outlook for the year ahead remains uncertain, but we have a growing portfolio of non-cyclical revenues, and a refreshed operational strategy to rebuild Foxtons’ estate agency DNA and return the business to its position as London’s go to estate agency.”