SIMON BAIN
Glasgow-based Newton Property is expanding into Aberdeen by merging with Aberdeen-based factor and letting company Watt & Co.
Ross Watt, 31, a former oil industry project manager who set up the business seven years ago, has accepted an equity stake in Newton and will join its board.
The merger will see Watt & Co rebranded Newton Property, but Mr Watt will continue to run the Aberdeen operation from its Rosemount Place office while his four colleagues will all join the enlarged business.
The deal brings another 1,200 properties to the Newton Portfolio largely in the west of Scotland, taking its factoring stock to 11,000 properties and the letting stock to over 600 homes.
Founder Stephen O'Neill said Mr Watt was a valuable catch and would be "an important contributor to further business acquisitions". He said Newton was poised to unveil another significant deal in the near future.
"We are not trying to take over the world, but we are very actively working on something in the west which happens to have come at the same time."
He said Mr Watt had started the business as a response to poor factoring in the city. "He has given that up completely and not a penny has changed hands. We had a lot of juggling to do to find his shares, but we wanted him."
Mr O'Neill went on: “This is an exciting time for the property sector in Aberdeen and the ideal time for Newton to move into the north-east where the economy is on the up. For a city that is widely reported to be in some sort of recession Aberdeen looks and smells like one of the most successful cities in the UK."
He added: "You don't buy at the top of the market - I would not have looked at this 18 months ago. People say Edinburgh is a safer haven than Aberdeen but I think there are a lot more opportunities in Aberdeen, it is a wee bit tougher but I am used to working in a hard market."
Since 2010 Newton has made two small acquisitions, picking up the stock of Glasgow-based Factoring Direct and the Glasgow rental stock of Edinburgh company Charles White.
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