The acquisition will give BBVA indirect control of TSB and follows the board of TSB owner Sabadell rejecting a €12bn (£10.1bn) takeover bid in May this year.

High street lenders like Barclays, NatWest and HSBC making rate cuts also ranked highly this week.

Our One to One with Mark Harrington was also popular with readers.

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One to One: Mark Harrington, L&C Mortgages

Barclays relaunches purchase products and lowers rates

Renters could be £2.6m worse off than homeowners but more are reconsidering homeownership

HSBC to lower residential and BTL rates with sub-4% deals available

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LSL Financial Services hires Hall as director of strategic partnerships

Skipton BS launches shared ownership Track Record mortgage

Large deposit five-year mortgage rates at lowest since mini Budget – Rightmove

NatWest to cut residential rates by up to 0.19%

In an update today, the regulator said that the acquisition will “require any immediate changes to the capital structure of the Virgin Money Group or the combined group as a whole”.

The PRA added that it intends to apply select prudential requirements to Virgin Money until 2028, which means that the “outstanding externally held own funds issued by Virgin Money will, subject to applicable deductions, be eligible to meet the consolidated capital requirements applicable to the combined group”.

The Bank of England said it will also exercise discretion to treat “outstanding externally held eligible liabilities” issued by Virgin Money as eligible to meet “consolidated MREL requirements” until 2028.

Nationwide and Virgin Money added that they “intend to simplify and align their capital structures over time as part of broader integration planning”.

Nationwide has appointed Muir Mathieson as CFO and executive director of Nationwide, effective immediately, and Chris Rhodes will step down from the Nationwide board effective immediately and will prepare to become chief executive of Virgin Money.

The acquisition is expected to come into force by 31 January 2025, according to the announcement.

Nationwide confirmed in March that it had struck a potential takeover of Virgin Money for around £2.9bn.

Brokers at the time said that the merger would “create another Goliath”, but the merger was cleared by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) in July.

The Tuscan Capital team will “eventually integrate fully” into the Allica Bank team and be able to access Allica Bank’s funding base and distribution team.

Allica Bank in turn will be able to leverage Tuscan’s existing bridging expertise and broker network.

Allica Bank has been growing its commercial finance offering, and the acquisition will allow it to grow its offering to bridging and refurbishment finance with a focus on semi-commercial and full-commercial bridging alongside Tuscan’s residential bridging.

Allica Bank says it is looking to be a “leading player in the bridging finance market”, mimicking its success in commercial mortgages and asset finance. Since it entered the market in 2020, the firm has lent over £2bn.

The bank has also hired Justin Trowse as head of bridging to spearhead its distribution strategy. He was most recently at LendInvest as a director of structured property finance, and prior to that, he was the bridging finance head.

Tuscan Capital was founded in 2018 by Colin Sanders, who was most recently CEO of Omni Capital and Fortwell Capital.

Nick Baker, Allica Bank’s chief commercial officer, said: “We are thrilled to welcome Tuscan Capital into the Allica family. Tuscan’s commitment to service, and in particular their focus on speed and transparency for their broker partners and customers, meant the synergies with Allica’s values were clear.

“Commercial bridging is an important but under-served part of the lending market. That’s why we believe bringing together Tuscan’s expertise and existing relationships with Allica’s resources and network is a winning combination for the market.

“We look forward to sharing more about how we’ll be developing our bridging proposition in the coming weeks.”

Sanders added: “Ed and I set up Tuscan with a vision to transform what we saw as a broken bridging market, with a specific focus on bringing back speed and decisiveness to the decision-making process. Allica’s no-nonsense approach to banking shows they share this vision with us.

“This is a really positive development for the Tuscan team, our intermediary partners, and the wider SME community, and we look forward to the proposition enhancements that will undoubtedly follow today’s news.

“By becoming part of this award-winning bank, we will be able to accelerate the fantastic work our team has already done, and make an even greater difference to the market.”

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.

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.

Threesixty offers personalised compliance and regulatory support to financial advice firms, and Fintel’s acquisition of the firm will broaden the range of services it offers intermediaries. 

Threesixty has 900 intermediary customers spanning independent financial adviser (IFA) firms and wealth managers. 

It will join Fintel’s brands SimplyBiz, Compliance First and SIFA in offering compliance and business support to intermediaries. It will also sit alongside its other subsidiaries including Defaqto, VouchedFor, Competent Adviser, AKG, MICAP, Owen James, ifaDASH, and Synaptic. 

Neil Stevens, joint CEO of Fintel, said: “I’m delighted to welcome the very talented team and prestigious client base of Threesixty to Fintel, and we are committed to upholding and helping to further build upon its strong brand and quality services. Threesixty’s leadership team is fully supportive of the acquisition and will remain with us to see it grow and develop moving forward, as will all existing teams within the business. We are confident we can further enhance services for Threesixty clients with joint investment in technology and will explore opportunities to make the benefits of our wider technology and data platform available over time. We will work with Russell and his team on the most effective approach to delivering these services to clients moving forward.  

“Fintel remains committed to offering as much choice as possible to advisers and will continue to run Threesixty as an independent business with its own offerings and pricing in the market, alongside our existing businesses. With a shared commitment to promoting the value of professional financial advice, we believe this deal will further expand the choice of quality services in this vital sector.”  

Russell Facer, Threesixty CEO, added: “The Threesixty brand and offering is a premier choice for professional advisers. We have a talented team that is passionate about looking after our clients and their regulatory and business support needs. We are delighted to join Fintel, a business which shares our vision and values and one that we have known for many years.  

“We are also able to offer the strongest commitment to our clients and our teams that the Threesixty brand and independent offerings will remain in place to continue to provide genuine choice for adviser firms.” 

Fintel’s most recent set of results showed its gross profit rose annually from £9.5m to £10.9m in 2023. 

The agreement is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions being met and, if agreed, completion is expected in Q3 this year. 

JBR offers finance for high-end luxury and supercars, with loan sizes starting from £50,000 up to £750,000. 

The acquisition will broaden Shawbrook’s offering within the regulated motor finance sector and strengthen its commitment to provide finance to people in clearly defined markets. 

Shawbrook entered the motor finance market last year through a platform lending arrangement with Blue Motor Finance. 

Marcelino Castrillo, chief executive at Shawbrook, said: “JBR’s extensive knowledge of this specialist segment within the wider motor finance market is exceptional.

“Aligning the business to Shawbrook’s ‘best of both’ approach, combining technology with deep human expertise, this acquisition will help us to extend the JBR proposition to more customers who value a premium experience, flexibility, and certainty when securing finance for their high-end vehicles.” 

Darren Selig, founder and chief commercial officer at JBR, said: “We are excited for JBR to be joining Shawbrook, where we can leverage its established platform and resources to further enhance our customer proposition and serve more customers in our segment of the market.

“It allows us to combine JBR’s specialist expertise with Shawbrook’s broader capabilities, creating a truly unique offering for our clients in the high-end motor finance market.” 

In Q1, Shawbrook Group reported a 15% rise in its loan book to £13.8bn.

This followed a bidding process to acquire the lender, and Chetwood hopes to expand the business and access its experienced mortgage lending team to enhance its existing skills. 

CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries, which trades as CHL Mortgages, will operate as normal, with no planned downtime or impact on its lending operations during the transition process. Chetwood said the firm, Barossa and CHL Mortgages hoped to make the transition between owners “seamless”. 

Chetwood said the acquisition would help it grow its own mortgage loan book and extend its reach in the intermediary market. CHL Mortgages’ specialist lending team is expected to complement Chetwood’s soon-to-launch ModaMortgages brand. 

ModaMortgages will be a specialist BTL lender and be distributed exclusively through intermediaries. 

Chetwood said there would be differences between CHL Mortgages and ModaMortgages, with CHL Mortgages offering the flexibility of combined technology and manual underwriting across a wide criteria range. Meanwhile, ModaMortgages will offer an automated process focused on fast decision-making. 

The lenders will operate independently under their individual brands, while their products and teams will complement each other and benefit from shared skills, experience and expertise from being part of Chetwood Financial. 

‘We have ambitions to grow operations further’

Andy Mielczarek (pictured), founder and CEO of Chetwood Financial, said: “When the chance presented itself to acquire CHL Mortgages, we felt it was simply too good an opportunity to miss out on, so we’re delighted that the deal is now complete. CHL Mortgages is an established, respected brand in the specialist lending space, and we have ambitions to grow operations further in the months and years to come. 

“The CHL Mortgages proposition will complement that of our soon-to-launch ModaMortgages’ proposition perfectly. We’re excited to see both brands flourish side by side – and while they will operate independently, there’s no doubt that having so much specialist lending knowledge and skill within Chetwood will only contribute to their respective successes.”

Ross Turrell, commercial director at CHL Mortgages, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to join forces with a digital bank well-established in funding buy-to-let mortgages through the intermediary market. Chetwood’s ambitious growth plans, which include the launch of ModaMortgages, will enable us to continue to develop our competitive product range and broad criteria offering, which has been well-received by our intermediary partners. 

“It’s an exciting next step on our journey and one [that] the management team and colleagues at CHL Mortgages [are] very much looking forward to taking.” 

There are no planned changes to the structure or employees at John Charcol, Mortgage Solutions understands. 

John Charcol launched in 1974 and was one of the first mortgage broker firms in the UK. It currently has more than 150 mortgage and protection advisers. 

The firm was acquired by Palatine Private Equity in 2015. Then, in 2019, John Charcol appointed Waypoint Change to help the firm with its strategic growth by expanding its adviser base and introducing technology processes. 

This marks the 11th acquisition by Pivotal Growth since it was established in 2021. Earlier this year, it acquired Northern Irish firms Select Mortgage and Financial Solutions and Select Brokers. 

The transaction with John Charcol brings its adviser numbers to 410, its annualised group revenues to around £63m and number of staff members to 615. 

The acquisition will be funded by Pivotal Growth’s excess cash. 

Simon Embley, chief executive of Pivotal Growth, said: “I am absolutely delighted to welcome such an iconic brand to Pivotal Growth. John Charcol needs no introduction to any market participant, having historically been recognised as one of the most prestigious mortgage brokers in the UK. Palatine and Waypoint have done an excellent job in transforming the business and in ensuring its profits have grown.

“Through further investment, our plan is to grow the adviser base and diversify and develop the product offering, which we see as a significant area for growth.”

Chris Wallis, managing director and chief executive of John Charcol, added: “This transaction is great news for John Charcol. I look forward to working with Simon and the Pivotal Growth team to build on the growth we have seen in recent times.” 

Tembo, which created an AI tool last year, expects that the acquisition will bolster its proposition that aims to help first-time buyers find alternative homeownership options through family and affordability boosting mortgages. 

Nude Finance’s lifetime ISA can be used by potential first-time buyers to save towards a deposit and its platform allows users to track their progress. Savers can receive a 25 per cent bonus from the government on top of their savings to increase their deposit. 

The acquisition

The acquisition has been approved by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and will see Tembo acquire 100 per cent of the shares in Nude Finance. 

Jenny Watts, chair of Tembo, will also become chair of the Nude Finance Board and Richard Dana, CEO of Tembo, will be responsible for the day-to-day management of the business. Crawford Taylor will step down as Nude CEO but continue to advise the team. 

Tembo will continue to be supported by its investors including Aviva, Ascension and Fair By Design, Love Ventures and the McPike Family Office.  

The firm said the transaction will allow Tembo to build on its success of last year and achieve double-digit monthly growth throughout 2024. 

Dana (pictured) said: “We’re delighted to now be able to offer our customers access to an award-winning savings product. Crawford and his brilliant team have built an engaged and loyal customer base of future first-time buyers and we look forward to continuing to grow and develop the business in the future.

“We’ve already been working with Nude over the past year and there is huge synergy in helping savings customers as they navigate the mortgage and homebuyer process. The broader Tembo proposition puts home at the heart of personal wealth – for most people and their families their most treasured and valuable asset.” 

Taylor added: “I started Nude to make a difference to people’s lives. Nude is a financial friend that’s really good with money, who’s there 24/7. The Nude team has built a unique proposition that is resonating in the market, changing the way people interact with the financial system.  

“Nude helps people set a goal, engaging and motivating them and being with them every step of the way, starting with homeownership. Tembo has a very similar approach centred around home ownership, and the acquisition is a perfect fit led by three very talented founders.” 

The acquisition was announced in August last year after Tenet Group announced a strategic review of its business which included the disposal of its networks. LSL acquired 133 AR advisers in the process. 

The acquisition completed on Friday. 

Jon Round, group financial services director at LSL, said: “I am delighted to welcome the TenetLime businesses and advisers into the Primis Network. It has been a real pleasure for myself and my colleagues to meet so many of the Tenet advisers at our recent series of regional events and we look forward to supporting their 2024 plans.  

“Primis has seen significant organic and acquisitive growth over many years, and I am pleased to be able to extend the Primis proposition to yet another set of firms and advisers.” 

In a trading update last week, LSL said its financial services network division has seen a growth in its market share of the purchase and remortgage sector to 10.7 per cent in 2023.  

It also pointed to the impending completion of the TenetLime buyout, saying the business was “on track to deliver the planned business benefits.”