Countrywide sells LSH to US commercial real estate firm

Countrywide sells LSH to US commercial real estate firm

UK’s property services group Countrywide has sold its non-core UK commercial real estate consultancy and transactional business, Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH), to John Bengt Moeller for £38 million.

John Bengt Moeller is the founder of Great Global Holdings, the US-based private commercial real estate investment firm.

“The sale of the Lambert Smith Hampton commercial business strengthens the Group. Once completed, we believe that the Group will be in a more advantageous position in our core residential market. The Group remains on course to deliver a full year result in line with the Board’s expectations,” said Peter Long, Executive Chairman of Countrywide.

”It will significantly improve Countrywide’s capital structure following receipt of gross cash proceeds of £38 million and allow the Countrywide Group to materially reduce its net debt,” said in a statement.

Sale is subject to shareholder approval and is expected to complete on 31 December 2019.

LSH is a commercial real estate practice in the UK and Ireland offering transactional, consultancy and operational services and solutions nationally through its 39 offices and around 1,300 staff. LSH has been owned by Countrywide since 2013.