Shawbrook Group has completed its acquisition of specialist lender Bluestone Mortgages.
The lender has been bought in a cash and share deal for an undisclosed sum. Bluestone Mortgages will continue to its day-to-day business operations under the company’s existing management team, using the Bluestone Mortgages brand.
Shawbrook has worked with Bluestone Mortgages since 2018 through a platform lending arrangement.
Shawbrook said this deal would help accelerate Bluestone Mortgages’ growth plans, particularly as there are now a growing number of customers who do not fit the lending profile of mainstream banks and building societies.
Bluestone Mortgages specialises in home loans for self-employed people and those with more complex credit histories or income streams. It has more recently developed a digital platform, Bluesky to improve the mortgage application journey.
Bluestone Mortgages, which employs around 100 people in offices in London and Sheffield, manages a book of over £1.3bn residential mortgages.
Bluestone Mortgages CEO Steve Seal says: “We have a proven track record of providing brokers with innovative lending solutions to meet their customers’ financial needs, particularly those who work for themselves or who have complex credit histories.
“Shawbrook has been a long-standing strategic partner for many years and combining our proposition with their additional capabilities and funding certainty, we are now well positioned to offer a stronger proposition to a growing number of customers.”
Shawbrook Group’s CEO Marcelino Castrillo adds: “The two organisations share an approach to providing specialist finance at scale, which combines technology and data with the expertise and judgement of their people. This ‘best of both’ model is key to delivering a seamless digital experience with swift decision making and certainty of funding.”
