Independent estate agency completes acquisition of rival firms
Estate agency Linley & Simpson has completed the acquisition of two independent rivals.
The agency, which has a network of 11 branches across North and West Yorkshire, has taken over the letting portfolios of both Leeds-headquartered Hitchen & Co and McCartney Lettings, which located at Bishopthorpe village in York.
The deals, completed for an undisclosed sum, are the first to be secured since LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, invested £10m into Linley & Simpson back in June.
As a result of the deals, an extra 340 properties are being transferred to the management of Linley & Simpson. These additions put the agency’s total portfolio of properties under management in Yorkshire past the 6,000 milestone for the first time.
The collection of properties acquired from Hitchen & Co will largely be shared between Linley & Simpson’s offices at Swinegate in Leeds city centre and Northgate in Wakefield.
The McCartney portfolio will be transferred into Linley & Simpson’s flagship York branch at Low Ousegate.
Will Linley, Linley & Simpson chief executive, said: “We are thrilled to augment our business with this duo of well-known and respected names in the Yorkshire marketplace. We are committed to investing in the future and the injection of funds from the team at LDC equips us with the ability to move forward at scale and at pace.
“Other acquisitions are planned before the end of the year as we aim to consolidate our position in a market that we know very well, and which we believe holds no shortage of opportunities.”
He added: “These latest acquisitions, and others in the pipeline, form another strong signal of our confidence in the future – and investing in it.
“Through our partnership with LDC, we aim to increase the number of properties we manage from 6,000 to 10,000 over the next three years, bringing our market-leading services to a wider range of customers right across the Yorkshire region.”
Gareth Marshall, investment director at LDC, said: “These acquisitions will allow Linley & Simpson to continue its exciting growth strategy, further consolidate its position as one of Yorkshire’s leading estate agencies and take its market leading service to more tenants and landlords.
“As the first acquisitions made since our investment they also represent a major milestone in the company’s expansion programme. With plenty of exciting projects to come we’re looking forward to further supporting the business as it continues to go from strength-to-strength.”
