Sheffield-based UniHomes accelerates growth ambitions with LDC partnership

Letting agents can integrate the UniHomes platform with their back-office systems and generate enquiries to fill their student accommodation portfolios.

Founded in 2015 by Phil Greaves, Bradley Cox and Luca Mori, UniHomes will use LDC’s investment to accelerate its regional growth and develop the platform and services for both its student and letting agent customers.

The investment was led by Dan Smith, partner and head of Yorkshire at LDC, investment director James Marshall and investment manager Ana-Maria Garaba.

Phil Greaves, co-founder of UniHomes, said: “We’re incredibly proud of the business we’ve built over the past eight years, having established ourselves as part of the fabric of the student accommodation market.

"The team at LDC really understood our purpose, our model and its potential, and so stood out as the ideal investment partner to work alongside us as we accelerate growth and look to support and enhance the UniHomes experience for even more letting agents and students across the UK.”

LDC’s Dan Smith added: “The UniHomes journey so far has been impressive, and the founders have achieved remarkable scale in just a few years.

"We are pleased to support the team as they drive further investment into the technology platform and lead the way in the all-inclusive student accommodation market, which is fast becoming the default model in the sector.”

LDC has backed a number of management teams in the property sector including iamproperty, Linley & Simpson, Lomond Group and Property Software Group.

UniHomes was advised by Kevan Shaw at Castle Square (Corporate Finance) and Freeths (Legal).

LDC was advised by EY (corporate finance, financial and tax due diligence), Womble Bond Dickinson (legal), Graph Strategy (Commercial due diligence) and Catalysis (Management due diligence).

HSBC provided debt and working capital facilities to support the transaction.

Earlier this month, LDC revealed it had made a significant investment in Boston Energy, a technical services provider to the wind energy industry, as it targets further international expansion.

Based in Beverley, East Yorkshire, Boston Energy employs and trains specialist technicians to support building and maintenance programmes of onshore and offshore wind farms.

LDC backed Boston Energy’s CEO Julian Cattermole in a management buyout from the wider group of Bostonair companies. This investment was led by Mr Smith, Mr Marshall and investment manager Anthony West.