Leaders Romans Group (LRG) has completed the acquisition of Portico, a well-established 15-branch agency located across London.

The Portico brand, established in 1818, was acquired by Robert Nichols in 2004 when the business was known as Edmund Cude.

The move will see LRG, one of the UK’s largest property services groups, welcome 154 Portico employees to its group, all of whom boast expert knowledge of their local areas across the capital.

Matthew Light, group mergers and acquisitions director at LRG, commented: “We are delighted to complete this acquisition and welcome Portico into the growing LRG family. Portico, predominantly a lettings business, has built up a highly reputable business that prides itself on providing a well-educated, knowledge-driven approach to property. This fits into the LRG ethos of remaining approachable to our customers while providing them with the best, and most trusted, local experts.”

Michael Cook, national lettings managing director at LRG, said: “We’re thrilled to be joining forces with such a brilliant lettings and sales agency. This acquisition supports our vision for expansion of our footprint and range of service in the capital following our recent acquisitions of Outlook Property in 2020 and Gibbs Gillespie earlier this year.”

There were reports last month that LRG could reportedly be put on the market as the company’s owners’ look to take advantage of favourable property market conditions.

According to Private Equity Insights, a major networking platform, LRG recently appointed bankers from NM Rothschild to work on a ‘strategic review’ of the business, which could lead to a sale later this year. But the speculation has not stopped LRG completing what is the firm’s sixth acquisition of the year so far.

Robert Nichols, chief executive officer at Portico, said: “I’d like to thank the incredible team here at Portico for helping us build a brand that has become known across London. We have the greatest of respect for the team at LRG and under their ownership we feel sure that Portico, and the people that make it all happen, will continue to grow and develop in the coming years.”