The UK's largest property franchisor pays £0.9 million for a stake in Enteka Ai, the enquiry-answering AI already live in more than 210 of its offices

The Property Franchise Group, "the UK's largest multi-brand property franchisor", announced on 7 October that it "has acquired a 25% equity interest in Enteka Ai", which the announcement calls "the conversational AI platform for UK estate agents and mortgage brokers".

What Enteka does, in the announcement's words. Its technology "handles customer enquiries across telephone, email, SMS, WhatsApp and live chat, providing round-the-clock support to capture and qualify leads, arrange appointments and identify cross-selling opportunities", and "also supports the re-engagement of existing customer databases and the handling of property maintenance enquiries".

Where it already runs. "Enteka is already live across more than 210 TPFG offices within Belvoir, EweMove, Hunters, Martin & Co, Northwood and Whitegates brands as well as Brook Financial Services." TPFG describes its network as "over 1,900 outlets" across 18 brands, so the roll-out so far covers a little over a tenth of it, on our arithmetic. "The Board believes the roll out across other offices will continue from this established base." Enteka "will remain independent and continue to serve the wider UK estate agency and mortgage broking market".

The money. "The Group's 25% equity interest is comprised of a subscription of £0.9 million for new shares representing a 15% equity interest, with a further 10% equity interest (issued upfront) being subject to forfeiture linked to a three-year commercial agreement whereby Enteka will be TPFG's preferred AI provider." On the £0.9 million for 15%, the new shares put a £6 million value on the company - our arithmetic, not the page's.

The quotes. Gareth Samples, TPFG's chief executive: "Moving early to adopt these capabilities across our network can create a first-mover at scale advantage." Christos Votsis, Enteka's founder and chief executive: "We founded Enteka to help property professionals turn more customer conversations into business opportunities and to take the administration that follows off their desks."

What the page does not say. No count of enquiries handled, no conversion or response-time figures, no price per office, and no name for the model underneath. It is a Reach announcement, which the exchange's own footer says "is not considered to be material". The tracker row went up this morning; this is the deal behind it.