LDC, the private equity investor which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, has exited its investment in Lomond, the lettings and estate agent platform, following a transformational growth journey. LDC will reinvest in Lomond alongside new investor ICG, the global asset manager, the founding Chairman and management.
The transaction will support Lomond’s continued growth strategy of further consolidation through M&A in its existing markets and provide additional capital to drive expansion into new regions.
LDC originally backed Yorkshire-based Linley & Simpson in 2018, before merging the regional sales and lettings agency with Lomond Capital in 2020. Since the merger, Lomond has completed 65 acquisitions, becoming one of the fastest growing estate agency networks in the UK, growing from 600 to 1,900 employees and from 22,000 properties under management to more than 50,000.
The transaction delivers a money multiple return of 3.5x for LDC.
Ed Phillips, CEO at Lomond, said: “We’ve had a superb journey so far with LDC. What we’ve achieved together is a testament to the hard work and passion of our people and I am delighted they will remain as a partner going forward.
“To have secured new investment from such a leading investor in ICG underlines the level of ambition of the team at Lomond and our new partner. We’re now looking forward to accelerating our growth in the coming years as we continue our journey as the best estate agency network in the UK.”
Stuart Pender, Founder and Chairman at Lomond, said: “The new investment from ICG creates significant firepower to fuel the next phase of Lomond’s growth and allows us to realise our ambitions for the business over the next three to five years.
“Our management team has done an excellent job over the last three years in building a market-leading platform and we have been well supported by LDC during this critical phase of our growth. We now very much look forward to working with ICG and LDC to maximise the full potential in the platform over the next few years.”
Gareth Marshall, Partner and Head of LDC’s North East & Scotland team, said: “This has been a truly transformative partnership spanning six years.
“We are proud to have supported Will and Nick initially, Stuart and Ed and the current team to scale from a regional lettings and estate agency to a multi-regional platform and now to a leading, multi-brand, national player.
“Today Lomond has unrivalled reach, reputation and the strongest team in the market and we’re looking forward to continuing our support for the business alongside ICG and management.”
LDC and Lomond were advised by Clearwater and Womble Bond Dickinson.
