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Lomond has completed the acquisition of Yorkshire-based HOP Lettings, its 54th acquisition since it was formed just three years ago.
The move will see HOP Lettings operate as part of Lomond’s Linley & Simpson brand, which already has a strong footprint in the area with 23 branches.
The direct acquisition of HOP Lettings will add a further 861 residential properties to the company’s rental property listings, of which around 300 will be student properties.
Given that Linley & Simpson already has 14,400 rental properties, this acquisition will take it past the 15,000 mark.
But the acquisition of HOP Students also provides an opportunity for the company, which already has a foothold in the York student market through its 2021 acquisition of Sinclair Properties, to expand its student services into the Leeds area.
The existing HOP Students business will add a further 300 student properties to Lomond’s wider national portfolio and will continue to be run from its existing Leeds city centre offices by the same team.
Ed Phillips, CEO of Lomond, commented: “Our aggressive growth strategy is focused on acquiring the best local businesses in the country’s fastest growing real estate markets, and this acquisition is no exception.
“The acquisition of HOP allows us to further strengthen the Linley and Simpson brand, which already has a strong presence in the region.”
Martin Elliott, CEO of Linley & Simpson, said: “The acquisition of the HOP business not only further strengthens our extensive residential lettings portfolio but also enables us to build on our existing footing in the student lettings market.”
“Like York, Leeds is a highly popular university town with high demand for student rental properties. Establishing a student base in the city has been a key part of our growth strategy and the acquisition of HOP Students allows us to immediately realise this.”
Luke Gidney, owner and founder of HOP, added: “I’ve always had a great relationship with Mr Linley and Mr Simpson and have a huge respect for their work, so when the time came for me and my family to exit the business I knew they would be a great fit for HOP.”
“This strategic move will have a significant impact on the wider market and provides Linley & Simpson with a fantastic opportunity to enter Leeds’ vibrant student letting sector. We are confident that our loyal customers and fantastic staff will be in very safe hands.”
“I’d like to sincerely thank the HOP team for all their hard work over the past 15 years – without them the business wouldn’t be where it is today. I wish them all the best in the future and look forward to seeing their continued success in their next chapter.”
LDC, the private equity group within Lloyds Banking Group, helped form Lomond through the merger of Lomond Capital and Linley & Simpson in December 2020. The firm continues to work closely with the management team to support the success of Lomond’s buy-and-build strategy.
Gareth Marshall, LDC’s head of the North East and Scotland, commented: “Lomond continues to demonstrate how an acquisitive growth strategy can be an effective way for companies to rapidly expand their geographic footprint.
“We first invested in Linley & Simpson in 2018, so it’s fantastic to see what is now a national lettings and estate agency group reach such a significant milestone in Yorkshire. We look forward to supporting Ed and the team as they build on this momentum over the coming months.”
The acquisition of HOP Lettings marks the first since the Lomond estate agency group was put up for sale.
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