£10m investment to fund more acquisitions by top regional agency

A private equity company has made a £10m investment in Yorkshire estate agency Linley & Simpson to fund further expansion.

Founded by Will Linley and Nick Simpson 20 years ago, Linley & Simpson is based in Horsforth, Leeds, and currently employs 180 people across 11 branches.

It handles sales and lettings and manages a portfolio of more than 5,800 properties and generates a turnover of more than £9m.

The deal sees private equity operator LDC back the existing management team with a £10m investment to drive its acquisition strategy as well as support technology developments.

Agency co-founder and managing director Will Linley says: “Having completed 31 acquisitions in the last 15 years, we’ve achieved significant growth. We’ve expanded into North and West Yorkshire while remaining committed to exceptional customer service, establishing the business as a leading managed services provider for our customers.

“Through our partnership with LDC, we aim to boost this growth and 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 across the Yorkshire region.”

The transaction was led by investment directors Gareth Marshall and Ben Snow, and director John Garner at LDC in Leeds. Marshall will join the board as a non-executive director and Peter Chappelow, previously managing director of Country Holidays, will join as non-executive chairman.

This is the third new investment made by LDC’s Yorkshire & North East team in the last two months, following the £31.8m investment in the commercial arm of the Royal Institute of British Architects - NBS - and the £20m secondary buyout of transport management software business, Mandata.