City investor snaps up hundred of properties
A PORTFOLIO of 500 properties in Birmingham city centre has been acquired by Scottish investors.
Property services business SDL Group has sold the mostly residential properties to John Shepherd Lettings, the local agency owned by Edinburgh-based Lomond Capital.
SDL Property Management said it was now focusing on largescale institutional landlords, particularly in the build-to-rent sector.
Group commercial director Rob Clifford said: “This Birmingham-based residential lettings portfolio is a great fit for John Shepherd Lettings and the sale creates a larger rental management business in the city, ready to serve the region’s landlords and property investors.
“We are delighted that our customers will continue to receive the level of service we have been proud to provide throughout the lettings business’ long history in Birmingham.
“The deal is another very positive move as we focus on our strategy to revolutionise the experience of tenants through large scale private rented sector projects.”
The acquisition boosts the number of properties under John Shepherd’s management to 2,500 with seven staff moving from SDL. This is the first acquisition in the city centre since John Shepherd moved to a new office last year and follows the acquisition of Wolf ’s which extended its reach into Harborne.
It is also its fourth acquisition since being taken over by Lomond Capital in 2014.
Richard Crathorne, joint chief executive of John Shepherd, said: “This is a fantastic portfolio of city centre properties and we are committed to providing ongoing quality, professional management services to its landlords and investors.”
Lomond Capital’s chief executive Bruce Evans added: “John Shepherd’s strength and depth mean it is already the number one lettings and estate agency brand in Birmingham.
“However, we are not resting on our laurels and are continuing to grow organically and through acquisitions such as this.
“We have a strong pipeline of further acquisitions and would invite anyone looking to sell their property management business to reach out to our team.”