Chestertons, one of the world’s oldest estate agents, has put itself on the market amid forecasts of a buoyant recovery in the prime London property market in which it is a prominent fixture.

Sky News has learnt that Chestertons’ owners have hired Deloitte, the professional services firm, to handle an auction of the business.

The company, which was founded in 1805, is focused on sales and lettings in the premium end of London’s real estate sector.

People close to the process said on Thursday that Chestertons was likely to seek a valuation of about £100m from a sale.

The business is owned by an investment vehicle of Salah Mussa, a Libyan businessman who acquired it in 2005.

It operates from roughly 30 offices in London, and is developing a franchise model which has seen it expand to 70 sites overall in 12 countries.

In the 2020 accounts for Chestertons Global filed at Companies House, it said it had seen a strong start to 2021, with the extension to the government’s Stamp Duty holiday and the COVID-19 vaccination programme propelling revenues ahead of last year’s levels.

“Our focus for 2021 and beyond is to grow the lettings business both organically and by making selective investments, whilst at the same time aligning the sales business to market conditions,” it said.

Chestertons was reported to have been put up for sale in 2014, but no deal materialised.

A spokesman for Chestertons failed to respond to a number of messages seeking comment, while Deloitte declined to comment.

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