Batley-born businessman Lawrence Tomlinson has sold 24 care homes in a £100m-plus deal.

Nottingham-based Anchor has bought 24 care homes from Mr Tomlinson’s Leeds-based LNT Group.

The homes – all in the North and Midlands – were run by LNT subsidiary Ideal Carehomes. They include Mill View, a 50-bed home in Bradford, and Savile Park, a 55-bed home in Halifax.

The deal brings the total number of homes operated by Anchor up to 114. LNT built Anchor’s Buckingham Lodge care home in Aylesbury, which opened in April, 2015, and Maple Tree Court in Kidsgrove, which opened in August, 2015.

Anchor is England’s largest not-for-profit provider of housing and care to older people. Formed in 1968 as Help the Aged (Oxford) Housing Association, it adopted the name Anchor in 1975 and opened its first care home seven years later.

LNT Group, employing more than 2,000 people, encompasses five businesses ranging from building and running care homes to manufacturing de-icers and racing cars.