Clearwater has advised private equity firm LDC on backing the merger of Lomond Capital and Linley & Simpson in a €109.3m (£100m) transaction, which will create a new national lettings and estate agency group.
Established in 2010, Lomond Capital manages residential properties worth in excess of €2.95bn (£2.7bn) and sells more than €821.52m (£750m) worth of property per annum. Linley & Simpson is a well-established Yorkshire letting agency, managing over 10,000 properties across a network of 22 branches.
Both businesses have driven success through different growth strategies. Lomond has invested in developing a regional platform by building a presence in some of the most attractive UK cities for private renters. Linley & Simpson, already backed by LDC since 2018, adopted an ambitious acquisition strategy across the Yorkshire region.
The new group has a combined portfolio of over 22,000 properties under management and major hubs in private rental hotspots including Aberdeen, Birmingham, Brighton, Edinburgh, Hull, Leeds, Manchester, Sheffield and York.
Following the transaction, the group brings together some of the UK’s strongest high street letting and estate agency brands including Linley & Simpson, Thornley Groves, Brand Vaughan, John Shepherd, Stonehouse and Braemore. The combined business will now look to strengthen its nationwide network through complementary acquisitions and organic growth, through access to further acquisition facilities provided by LGT Capital Partners and Santander, which was arranged by Clearwater’s Debt Advisory team.
