Massive expansion ahead for Romans after £50m-plus management buyout

Private equity firm Bowmark Capital is backing the management buyout of the Romans Group at a valuation in excess of £50m.

The deal completed this week, with the buyout team being led by Romans' managing director Peter Coles who has been

with the company for all of its 25 years.

Founded in 1987, Romans has grown from a single site in Bracknell to a network of 18 branches across Berkshire, north Hampshire and Surrey. It is now likely to grow considerably in size, with speculation that in a few years' time it could float on the stock market.

The company provides a comprehensive range of estate agency, lettings agency and associated property services to buyers, sellers, landlords and tenants, and has won UK Estate Agency of the Year in the Estate Agency Events awards for the past two years.

The group also includes Boyer Planning, a town planning firm with five regional offices across the south of England and Wales.

According to Bowmark Capital, the UK residential estate agency market was worth £8.6bn in 2012 and has been growing at a compound annual growth rate of 8% since 2009 as a result of steady growth in residential lettings and a gradual pick-up in the sales market.

It expects this recovery to accelerate as the UK economic recovery gathers pace.

Romans has achieved impressive growth in revenue and profits in recent years, both organically and through the acquisition of lettings branches and portfolios.

Bowmark says it will provide significant additional capital to support the roll-out of new offices and future acquisitions.

Bowmark partner Mark Salter said: Romans is the market-leading business in its region, with an outstanding management team and an excellent reputation for high-quality customer-focused property services.

We are looking forward to supporting Peter Coles and his colleagues with the continued roll-out of new Romans' branches across the region and further acquisitions.

Coles said: The residential sales and lettings markets and associated sectors are set to grow strongly over the coming years, and Romans is well positioned to capitalise on this growth.

We are looking forward to working with the Bowmark team, with their extensive knowledge and experience of the property services sector and buy-and-build investments, in this exciting next phase in the company's development.

Founded in 1997, Bowmark has extensive experience of investing in growth companies run by experienced management teams, and has supported over 50 different businesses across a range of industries, including the residential lettings sector where it backs fast expanding firm Leaders.