Connells Group brand Gascoigne Halman has acquired the sales and lettings business of a competitor, Ravensworth Estates.

Ravensworth Estates, a single office business in Knutsford, Cheshire, has been trading for eight years. The acquisition will see Ravensworth Estates business transfer into Gascoigne Halman’s well established Knutsford branch.

This is Gascoigne Halman’s first acquisition since becoming part of the Connells Group last year.

John Halman, managing director of Gascoigne Halman, said: “We have 18 offices across Cheshire and south Manchester but are keen to grow further so we are still in the market for other opportunities.”

The purchase is said to form part of a wider initiative by Connells Group to grow its national network of branches at a time when other big chains are cutting back. Connells also last year acquired online agent Hatched.

Gascoigne Halman, originally a Gold member of OnTheMarket, is at the centre of legal action challenging OTM’s ‘one other portal’ rule. Its acquisition of Ravensworth Estates should be unproblematic in this regard – it lists only on Rightmove.