THE Young & Butt name is set to disappear from sign boards across Hampshire after the firm became the latest in a string of independent commercial property agents to be bought up by a major national practice.

The Southampton and Segensworth based firm, one of the largest independent firms of surveyors and commercial property consultants on the south coast, has been sold to UK top ten agency Lambert Smith Hampton.

The deal is expected to be completed on Thursday, when Young & Butt's two offices will be added to LSH's chain of 30 UK offices generating turnover of £75m.

Bosses of Young & Butt declined to comment on rumours of the deal when contacted by the Daily Echo early last week.

Although no figures for the deal have been announced there will be handsome pay-outs for equity directors John Butt, Jeremy Young, Matthew Small, Robin Dickens, Chris Mitchell and Graham Holland.

It is the latest in a flurry of deals, which just 14 months ago saw Young & Butt buy up Holland Mitchell in a move which increased business by a third. The new firm has ambitious plans to increase turnover by 100 per cent in the next two years as it expands.

Matthew Small said there would be no redundancies as a result of the takeover, which has been under discussion for six months.

"All 30 employees will be retained and we'll be expanding the office," he said. "They have been speaking to various practices for two years now and, really, with our market share we were the obvious choice. They are represented in the Thames Valley and the next step was the Solent corridor.

"We had various approaches but we didn't feel there was a fit."

LSH chief executive Mark Rigby said: "This is a significant development for us and further evidence of our ambitious plans to expand our business. Young & Butt's extensive expertise across the south coast will add greatly to our national network, in a market that continues to thrive in the current climate."

The deal leaves question marks over the ability of other smaller agencies such as Hughes Ellard, Vail Williams, Warwick Martel and London Clancy to avoid takeovers by national rivals.