Estate agency chain LSL has taken another step on its transformation strategy after selling its interest in a property technology firm.
The Newcastle-based firm, whose brands include Your Move and Reeds Rains, has sold a 32.34% stake in TM Group to the 海角视频 subsidiary of Canadian technology firm Dye & Durham. Fellow estate agents group Connell has sold the remaining share of the firm.
The £29.3m LSL deal was concluded on a cash free debt free basis.
The announcement follows LSL’s sale of its investment in conveyancing business LMS in May. The company said that the deal further simplifes its group structure and provides capital for its growth strategy, particularly in financial services.
In a Stock Exchange announcement, LSL said its carrying value and share of net assets of the TM Group investment as at 31 December 2020 was £2.3m. In 2020, the LSL share of TM Group profit was £1m.
David Livesey, outgoing chairman of TM Group, said: “We are proud of the business that we built and which is set for further development under the ownership of Dye & Durham. They are the ideal acquirer for TM, enabling it to evolve as part of a global operation and providing a good fit alongside the stable of specialist businesses that they are assembling.
“We are excited for the future of TM Group, wishing the team ongoing success, and look forward to continuing our partnership with them as customers for the long term.”
In recent months LSL has made a number of significant investments designed to increase its financial services operations.
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At the beginning of 2021 the group acquired the Mortgage Gym, a digital platform that allows customers to connect with a mortgage adviser and track their applications throughout the process.
Since the acquisition, LSL has leveraged Mortgage Gym’s tech in a number of ways, including using it to launch a new mortgage broker called Pivotal Growth.
Pivotal Growth is a joint venture between LSL and Pollen Street Capital and has been designed to tap into the mortgage brokerage market, which LSL has described as “fragmented”.
A total of £200m was made available for the joint venture to allow it to fund future acquisitions.