Mortgage consolidator Pivotal Growth has acquired a specialist buy-to-let broker, for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2013, The Buy To Let Broker is based in Southport and provides services to a range of landlords.
In an announcement this morning (July 12), Pivotal Growth said it is in active discussions with a number of “further opportunities” to expand the group’s capacity and coverage.
Chief executive officer of Pivotal Growth, Simon Embley, said the acquisition will provide the company with specialist expertise in the buy-to-let market.
“[The founders] have built a fantastic business with an excellent reputation, and I am excited to be working with them and their team to continue to deliver first class solutions to landlords.”
Director of The Buy To Let Broker, Matt Hardman, said he had found a “united partner” in Pivotal.
“Collaboration has always been at the heart of everything we do - and we very much look forward to working with Simon and the team at Pivotal.”
Joint venture
The acquisition is the fourth for Pivotal Growth, which was set up in April last year as a joint venture with private equity investor Pollen Street Capital and LSL.
The joint venture, worth £200mn, was the result of contributions of £33.5mn and £62.4mn from LSL and PSC respectively, which was supplemented with external debt to help fund purchases.
All businesses that are acquired are anticipated to become members of the Primis mortgage network.
Profit impact
Earlier this year, LSL said its profits will be slightly lower because the expansion of Pivotal Growth had been "slower than expected".
In an update to shareholders, LSL said: "We were pleased to recently announce the third acquisition by Pivotal Growth.
"Whilst there is a good pipeline of deals, and we remain confident of the medium-term prospects for value creation, completion of acquisitions has been slower than expected, and as a result Pivotal Growth has remained in an investment phase for longer than previously anticipated."
The update continued: "Assuming activity is in line with [our] estimates, overall profit is expected to be slightly behind the record profits posted in 2021, principally reflecting slower than anticipated deal flow in Pivotal Growth, and the limited impact of cost inflation."
Pollen Street Capital has poured £2bn into the financial and business services sectors since 2003.
The investor claims to have "considerable experience" of the UK mortgage market and in executing buy-and-build strategies.
In September 2020, it appointed former NatWest executive David Jones as its operating partner for technology. Jones had previously headed digital distribution for the bank’s commercial banking arm.
sally.hickey@ft.com
