Cabot Square Capital, the private equity and principal finance house, has sold Platform Home Loans Limited, the specialist mortgage lender to Britannia Building Society Group for £600 million including assumption of debt. The senior management of Platform will remain with the company.
Platform Home Loans provides mortgages for people who fall outside normal high street lenders criteria. It has £540 million of mortgages on its books and serves over 10,600 customers nationwide.
James Clark from Cabot Square said: “The transaction reinforces Cabot Square’s investment strategy of acting as a catalyst for the development of strong cash flow generative businesses in the consumer and commercial credit sector. Obviously, it is also imperative to be able to find the right trade buyer for the business, as is the case in terms of the ideal fit of Platform with Britannia.”
David Tweedy, managing director of Platform Home Loans Limited, said: “The acquisition of Platform by Britannia is an exciting new stage in the development of our business.”
PHL was acquired in August 1999 from First Union Corporation. Since then, the amount of loans and mortgages serviced by PHL has increased by 60 per cent and its customer base has doubled. PHL has also securitised £480 million of loans in the capital markets.
KPMG Corporate Finance and Clifford Chance represented Cabot Square whilst PWC and Allen & Overy represented Britannia in the transaction.