BNP Paribas will acquire UK property firm Strutt & Parker and merge it with its own UK property arm BNP Paribas Real Estate UK. The combined entity will have business of £180 million a year, which is more than double the turnover of the BNP Paribas property arm. Andy Martin, senior partner at Strutt & Parker, will become the chief executive of the merged company. The deal comes as other European banks shift some operations out of the UK ahead of the country’s departure from the European Union. The merger comes after Strutt & Parker faced declining profits, partly because of a downturn in the market for high-end London homes. BNP has opted to buy both the commercial and residential arms of Strutt, which has 60 offices across the UK; the commercial arm of the business will take on the BNP brand.