星空传媒

The amount consultants earn is one of the touchiest subjects in the housing sector. But if the sale of consultant Hacas Group goes ahead, its directors stand to make sums that will make even the largest fees look like peanuts.

Managing director Derek Jospeh and chairman Julian Ashby, who started the company, and group director Jeffrey Zitron, could collect 拢10m each. The six other directors will also enjoy large windfalls if the company is sold to the mystery bidder that emerged last week (HT 23 May, page 8).

Between them Ashby, Zitron and Joseph hold 58% of the group's stock, now worth 拢43m, having been pushed up from 拢34m since the bid was announced. Any potential bidder would be expected to offer a heavy premium on that price: industry observers say this could be more than 拢50m.

It's not hard to see why Hacas Group is such an attractive target. Earlier this month, it unveiled a pre-tax profit of 拢2.4m for the six months to 31 March, a 43% rise on the same period in 2002. Revenue was up 19% to 拢8.2m, 90% of it coming from the local authority and social housing sectors. It is on course to scoop more than 拢20m of business in 2004 and within the sector, it has few competitors that can match its size, geographical reach or scope of services.

Joseph and Ashby founded Hacas in 1979 and listed it on the Alternative Investment Market in 1998. Continuing growth enabled the purchase of Chapman Hendy for 拢2.3m in 2000. In January 2003, the firm bought Stratford Development Partnership, which administers New Deal for Communities and single regeneration budget projects, for 拢2.8m cash and spent another 拢500,000 on a long office lease at its headquarters. Last week, Joseph attributed the latest set of record results to a better-than-expected return on the Stratford acquisition.

Some of the group's customers are beginning to feel uneasy about Hacas' dominance of the market. Barbara Thorndick, chief executive of West Kent Housing Association, said: "Hacas is a useful consultant for all of us, but it is an issue that few suitable alternatives exists. Monopoly is never a comfortable situation for customers."

Another worry is that Hacas' decision on the offer may affect its 150 full-time staff. The firm must persuade them of the merits of a sale, or risk losing them. Joseph says: "The industry is always short of people with the skills to do what we do. The housing sector is not very good at growing expertise. Hacas without its staff is nothing."