‘A truly transformative partnership’: LDC set to reinvest in sales and letting firm Lomond
LDC, a private equity investor which is part of Lloyds Banking Group, has announced that it is set to reinvest in sales and letting agent Lomond in a bid to support the firm's growth.
The investor said it had now exited its investment in Lomond, but that it will reinvest in the firm alongside new investor ICG, the global asset manager, the founding Chairman and management.
LDC added that the transaction would deliver a money multiple return of 3.5x.
The company said the transaction will “support Lomond’s continued growth strategy of further consolidation through mergers and acquisitions in its existing markets” as well as providing additional capital to drive the firm’s expansion into new regions.
Ed Phillips, CEO of 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.”
LDC originally backed Linley & Simpson in 2018, before merging the regional sales and lettings agency with respected businesses Lomond Capital in 2020.
Since the merger, Lomond has completed 65 acquisitions and grown from 600 to 1,900 employees. It has also grown from holding 22,000 properties under management to more than 50,000.
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.”
Stuart Pender, founder and chairman of 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.”
Lomond was also recently recognised in the Sunday Times Best Workplace 2024 awards.
LDC and Lomond were advisedon the transaction by Clearwater and Womble Bond Dickinson.