Altido acquires Sherpa in latest in series of expansions

European property management company Altido has acquired Scottish property service platform Sherpa. Terms of the deal were not announced.

The acquisition is the latest in a series of expansions for London-based Altido, which has added apart-hotels, rent-to-rent buildings and pop-up hotels to its Scotland portfolio.

“We are delighted to be growing our portfolio of over 2,000 properties across Europe with more than 350 properties in Scotland,” says Will Parry, Altido CEO.

In Scotland, “2022 has been all about diversifying [our] portfolio with a focus on popular tourist destinations like Edinburgh and Glasgow,” Parry says.

Sherpa, which provides maintenance, cleaning and operations for property owners, and its sister company, Festival Flats, are now part of Altido’s inventory.

Rachel Davis, Sherpa’s operations manager, says Altido “has a similar ethos of achieving excellent service for their owners so is perfect to take on Sherpa. I’m also delighted to be joining the new team as client and lettings manager, Scotland.”

Launched in 2019, Altido says it offers an “experience that bridges the gap between private accommodation and hotels.” The company’s growth has accelerated since February 2022 when it merged with DoveVivo, a property management company based in Italy. Altido says it is on track to exceed its 2022 budget of $15 million in revenue.

In July of this year, Altido entered the long-term lets market by opening its first “co-living space” for students. The 11-bedroom apartment in Edinburgh has communal spaces, such as shared kitchens and lounges.

That same month, the brand launched a portfolio of five “rent-to-rent” buildings, also in the Scottish capital. In a “rent-to-rent” arrangement, a tenant signs a contract with the property owner to pay a fixed amount of rent, then fixes up the property and lets it out to people for a higher amount.

Altido says its “pop-up hotel” model had a strong summer in Edinburgh, where student accommodations were transformed into rooms to accommodate visitors to the city and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. The initiative brought more than $1 million in gross booking value in August alone.

Parry, Altido’s CEO, adds: “We are mindful to respect the recent short-term rental residential regulations coming into force in Edinburgh in April 2023, and continue to build a thriving business around them.”

Altido announced in June of this year that two Italian companies had joined its brand.