Starling Bank has acquired specialist buy-to-let mortgage lender Fleet Mortgages in a 拢50 million cash and share deal.听
Fleet Mortgages, based in Hampshire, focuses on providing mortgages to professional and semi-professional buy-to-let landlords, only via mortgage adviser distribution channels.听
To date, it has originated 拢2.3 billion of mortgages and experienced zero credit losses. It currently has circa-拢1.75 billion of mortgages under management.听听
Starling will become the sole funder of future originations, with Fleet Mortgages able to build on its successful lending operation by accessing Starling鈥檚 growing deposit base. Day-to-day operations at Fleet will continue unchanged with the company鈥檚 existing management team.听
The acquisition – Starling鈥檚 first – is part of a wider plan at the bank to expand lending through a mix of strategic forward-flow arrangements, organic lending and targeted M&A activity.听
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Anne Boden, CEO of Starling, said: 鈥淭he acquisition of Fleet Mortgages is the start of our move into mortgages as an asset class and builds on a number of forward-flow arrangements that we鈥檙e doing with leading non-bank lenders.听
鈥淔leet鈥檚 existing management team will remain in place and Fleet will continue to operate as a stand-alone company, keeping the original name and brand. We鈥檙e buying Fleet because it is very good at what it does, not because we want to change it.鈥�听
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Bob Young, CEO of Fleet Mortgages, said: 鈥淲e are very pleased to be announcing the acquisition of the business by Starling Bank which will deliver a significant benefit to the business, our intermediary partners and their landlord clients. It is certainly exciting times ahead.听
鈥淲e started Fleet Mortgages seven years ago and have grown to become a successful mortgage originator with nine well-received securitisations. 2021 is set to become our best year yet with new mortgage loans running at 拢800 million and half-year pre-tax profits of 拢4 million.听
鈥淪tarling Bank will take over all of our funding, allowing us to focus on achieving our significant and ambitious lending and growth targets.听听
鈥淭his is a natural progression for our lending business, with both Starling and Fleet sharing a very similar cultural听fit, and听provides us with a very strong lending base from which to work and to deliver for our staff, our adviser partners and our landlord customers.鈥�听