By Ian McConnell
THE head of lettings and estate agency group Lomond Capital has highlighted ambitions to expand further and create jobs, after his operation’s merger with Yorkshire player Linley & Simpson in a £100 million deal.
Lomond Capital owns Scottish lettings and estate agents Braemore and Stonehouse and other operations in the sector including Thornley Groves in Manchester, Brand Vaughan in Brighton, and John Shepherd in Birmingham.
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Edinburgh-based Lomond Capital noted the merged group, which will trade under its name with local brands retained, would have more than 22,000 properties under management and “major hubs in private rental hotspots including Brighton, Edinburgh, Leeds, Manchester, Aberdeen and Birmingham”. The deal has been backed by Lloyds Banking Group's LDC private equity arm.
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Braemore operates in Edinburgh and St Andrews, and Stonehouse is based in Aberdeen. Lomond Capital was founded in 2010 by Stuart Pender and Roger Lane-Smith. Of its 325 employees, 140 are in Scotland. It now manages residential properties worth in excess of £2.75 billion, and sells more than £750m worth of property per annum.
Linley & Simpson, set up in 1997 by Will Linley and Nick Simpson, manages more than 10,000 properties across 22 branches, taking in Leeds, York, Hull and Sheffield. It also has a sales offering, and employs more than 260 staff. The enlarged group, owned equally by LDC and management, plans further acquisitions and organic growth.
Asked if jobs would be retained in the deal, Mr Pender replied: “Overall we intend to create rather than reduce jobs as we grow our group into a nationwide business.”
He said of the rationale for the deal: “The private rental sector is fragmented – Lomond has invested in some of the main PRS cities in the UK and the opportunity is to replicate the growth delivered by Linley & Simpson in Yorkshire in each of the Lomond regions.”
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