By Ian McConnell
Edinburgh-based lettings and estate agency group Lomond has continued on the expansion trail with a further four acquisitions.
The transactions, unveiled yesterday, come hard on the heels of a merger with Yorkshire player Linley & Simpson in a £100 million deal which was announced earlier this month.
And Lomond signalled its appetite for further acquisitions.
Among the businesses joining Lomond through the latest batch of deals is Craigflower Lettings in Edinburgh. The others are Pad Residential and Allison & Co, which are based in Manchester, and Halls Estate Agents in Brighton. The acquisitions, Lomond noted, have in total added a further 700 properties under management to its portfolio.
A spokesman for Lomond noted that it now manages more than 23,000 residential properties and employs in excess of 580 staff.
Lomond 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.
Braemore operates in Edinburgh and St Andrews, and Stonehouse is based in Aberdeen.
Stuart Pender, group chief executive of Lomond, said: “We are delighted to be able to announce a number of deals following our recent merger with Linley & Simpson.
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“These deals very much signal our intention to continue to consolidate regional markets through our network of...regional agents and [this] is a continuation of our approach to building our business while retaining our successful local approach.”
He added: “We are looking for new opportunities to work with good-quality lettings and estate agencies across all of our regions.”
Lomond was founded in 2010 by Stuart Pender and Roger Lane-Smith.
When asked earlier this month about the rationale for the Linley & Simpson deal, Mr Pender replied: “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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