CB Richard Ellis has abandoned plans to take over Nelson Bakewell (NB) after almost six months of negotiations.
The deal is understood to have collapsed on Friday night partly because of concerns over staff retention at NB.
However, sources at NB are also claiming responsibility for pulling the plug on the deal.
The decision was taken at the final hour after CBRE had already transferred cash to NB’s client account.
NB has already lost its auctions team headed by James Cannon and valuations team headed by David Wood and has continued to haemorrhage staff.
A source said: “CBRE has serious concerns about NB’s ability to retain its staff.”
CBRE had already dropped its purchase price for the 330-staff firm by around 20% from £22.5m to £18m (EG 16 April).
On 1 May NB reported turnover up 17% to £34m for the year ended 30 September 2004.
Pre-tax profit rose from £0.9m to £3.1m.
For the full story on the collapse of the merger negotiations, see this week’s Estates Gazette.
References: EGi News 03/05/05
