Despite 2020 being a challenging year for the property sector, Leaders Romans Group (LRG) has made a record number of branch acquisitions over the last 12 months.

The property service group has added a number of new locations to its portfolio, along with their teams and thousands of managed tenancies, and has expanded into several areas where it previously didn’t have a presence.

In January, LRG acquired Moginie James, and in March both Scott Fraser and Outlook Property, while the acquisition of Lenwell followed in October – all multi-branch companies.

Since LRG was formed in 2016, after the merger of Leaders and Romans, these four acquisitions are the most the group has finalised in a calendar year.

Over 2020, these acquisitions have seen LRG welcome almost 200 staff members to the business, take on over 6,000 additional managed tenancies, add 20 new branches, expand into East and North London and South Wales, as well as build upon its presence in Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Hertfordshire, Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire.

Matthew Light, Director of Group Mergers and Acquisitions at LRG, comments: “To have achieved such success, this year especially, is a testament to the skill and endeavour of the LRG team. It is a show of intent that the company places heavy importance on mergers and acquisitions, and will continue to do so, particularly regarding lettings and block management businesses.

“Adding nearly 200 more experienced and talented staff to the business is of huge benefit, as all of them boast local expertise of the geographies in which they operate. This, combined with the expansion into new locations, feeds into LRG’s ethos of providing tenants and landlords with a service steeped in local knowledge. Above all, achieving a record number of branch acquisitions provides us with a great platform for future success, and positively highlights the growing reputation of the business.”

LRG will continue to place a major focus on mergers and acquisitions, but Light warns that time is of the essence to complete transactions ahead of the upcoming proposed capital gains tax reform, which could see it aligned with income tax rates.

Rumoured to be announced at the Spring Budget in March, the reform could mean that shareholders selling a business would be taxed up to 45% for a disposal, rather than at the current rate of up to 20%.

Light added: “Such heavy taxes would of course play on the mind of those looking to complete transactions, and it is obviously extremely financially beneficial to do so before the proposed tax rate reform is potentially introduced.

“We at LRG are still open to further acquisition opportunities and will of course explore viability ahead of next March, but depending on the proposed changes, time could be of the essence – even for businesses such as ours that can finalise deals quickly.”