Aberdeen business man Alex Hutcheon has sold a property letting portfolio to an Edinburgh company for an undisclosed sum.
Mr Hutcheon, who was recently cleared of charges of assaulting his wife and racially abusing her former lover, sold a portfolio of 103 properties his firm managed on behalf of landlords to Lomond Capital at the end of June.
Two members of Mr Hutcheon’s staff will move to the business, which trades as Stonehouse in the north-east.
Mr Hutcheon told the Press and Journal the lettings division was just a small part of his Granite city operations.
He said: “It is a very small part of our business.
“It allows us to concentrate on our main focus – residential purchase and sale, financial services and private client work, particularly trusts, wills and executory administration, as well as some commercial work.
“These areas are expanding fairly quickly,” he added.
Lomond Capital has also acquired Langley Apartments, 23 serviced apartments all based in the West End of Aberdeen, from Bill Brebner, formerly of Simpson Brebner, which is now part of the Lomond group. The deals are the sixths and seventh acquistions Lomond has made in the north-east.
Ross Murray, director of Stonehouse, said the latest two deals made the firm the biggest residential property manager in the north-east with more than 1,600 properties in Aberdeenshire under its management worth £365million.
“The aim of the game is to provide a one-stop-shop for the buy to let investor,” he said.
Mr Murray added that Lomond has also recently acquired a block of 28 apartments in the area that will be sold on to property investors through a new Lomond investment management division.
The newly consolidated Stonehouse brand brings together the legacy brands of Stonehouse, Simpson Brebner, KWAD, Bon Accord and Yvonne Moir along with the newly acquired Alex Hutcheon book of business.
Stuart Pender, Chief Executive of Lomond, said: “We see Aberdeen, with its strong micro-economy, as a strategic pillar of our business plan.”
Mr Pender established the business with chairman Roger Lane-Smith, in 2010 with a £45million war chest to fund acquisitions.
“These two acquisitions, the 18th and 19th since we set up four years ago, bring great benefits to our customer offering in Aberdeen. The extension into serviced accommodation through Langley Apartments allows us to cater to the specific demands of this vibrant marketplace,” Mr Pender added.