Bain Capital’s acquisition of Iress’ mortgages business was announced in March, for a total cash consideration of £85m before costs. 

The division provided mortgage sales and origination software (MSO) and consulting services to UK banks and building societies. 

The approximated £75m proceeds of the sale will be used to retire debt, reducing debt to leverage ratio to within target band. 

This transaction is the fourth and largest divestment completed by Iress, following the disposals of its MFA, Platform and Pulse businesses. This is part of the firm’s strategy to simplify its proposition and divest non-core businesses to retire debt.

Iress acquired the mortgages business more than 10 years ago.

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Marcus Price, group CEO of Iress, said: “This is the fourth and largest divestment we have successfully executed under our transformation program[me]. The net proceeds of all divestments have been used to retire debt, with our debt to leverage ratio seeing considerable improvement – paving the way for a return to maintainable dividends. As we enter the final months of our transformation program[me], we can already see a stronger Iress with an improved earnings profile, balance sheet strength and execution discipline priming Iress for future growth.” 

Harry Mitchell, group executive for wealth and UK at Iress, added: “Completion of the sale was contingent on the novation of existing MSO client contracts to the new owners and we’re pleased to have gained the full support of all mortgages clients. We are confident this is a great result not only for Iress, but also for our clients and people, with Bain Capital fully committed to re-investing in the technology and capabilities that power MSO.

“Iress’ UK operations now have a streamlined focus on its core competencies, and we remain committed to driving excellence for our clients in the UK.” 

Earlier this year, Iress MSO renewed a five-year contract with Atom Bank to continue providing sales and origination functionality.