Lomond snaps up Purplebricks' entire Scottish rental portfolio in landmark deal

Lomond, the fast-growing network of lettings and sales agencies, has acquired the entire rental portfolio of Purplebricks in Scotland in a landmark deal.
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The takeover, on undisclosed terms, will see all the properties transfer from the online agency to Lomond’s two principal Scottish brands - DJ Alexander, based in Edinburgh, Glasgow and St Andrews, and Stonehouse, which operates across Aberdeen. Two-thirds of the former Purplebricks’ Scottish lettings book is located in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen, with the remainder situated in Falkirk, Inverness, Kilmarnock, Kirkcaldy, Motherwell and Paisley.

Consolidator Lomond has now completed 41 acquisitions on its growth journey - at an average rate of one every 20 days. Seven of these have been in Scotland, spearheaded by the transformational deal that added DJ Alexander to the group some 16 months ago. More than 40,000 properties throughout the UK in private rental hotspots are now under Lomond’s management, and it employs a team of about 1,100 people.

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Lomond chief executive Ed Phillips said: “As a progressive and ambitious business, we remain proactive in identifying new opportunities that enable us to grow at pace and scale. Lomond is in the stand-out position of being able to draw together all the expertise, geographical span and financial capability that is necessary to integrate a Scotland-wide portfolio.

“This latest acquisition is the ideal strategic and geographical fit for Lomond. The properties we inherit are in ideal locations, throughout all our key Scottish heartlands. It also further strengthens our market-leading position as the biggest residential property specialist in Scotland, with an expanding lettings portfolio of 11,000 homes now under our management through our DJ Alexander and Stonehouse brands - as well as our strong specialism and track record in sales.”

David Alexander, chief executive of DJ Alexander, and who heads up Lomond’s pan-Scotland operations, said: “This deal not only represents our strong confidence of the Scottish lettings market, it also heralds another major step forward nationally as we accelerate our ambitions to become the number one UK company in this sector. We believe there are excellent opportunities across all areas across the UK, and we will continue to grow in the coming years as landlords, property investors and tenants welcome the growing range of services that Lomond offers, and the quality of delivery we provide.”

Lomond became the largest lettings and estate agent in Scotland after acquiring Edinburgh-based DJ Alexander, one of the industry’s most familiar names, at the tail end of 2021. That move, which was supported by Lomond’s private equity partner LDC, brought the group’s portfolio of managed properties to 9,500 in Scotland, though that has now risen to 11,000, and strengthened its presence across the Central Belt. As part of the acquisition, Lomond consolidated its Edinburgh and St Andrews-based agency Braemore, as well as the Edinburgh branch of its Fineholm business, into the DJ Alexander brand.

LDC, the private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group, owner of Bank of Scotland, backed the creation of Lomond Group in December 2020, merging Lomond Capital and Linley & Simpson.

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