UK digital challenger Chetwood Financial has acquired buy-to-let mortgage lender CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries (CMI) from Barossa Asset Purchaser Sarl. The financial terms of the deal remain undisclosed.
Chetwood aims to utilise this acquisition to grow its mortgage loan portfolio and enhance its presence in the mortgage intermediary market. Meanwhile, CMI is slated to maintain normal operations with no anticipated downtime or disruption to its lending activities.
Additionally, the challenger states that CMI’s specialist lending team will complement the company’s soon-to-launch ModaMortgages proposition.
Chetwood Financial highlights that ModaMortgages, similar to CMI, will function as a specialised buy-to-let lender. However, there are notable distinctions between the two: while CMI emphasises "flexibility" through a blend of technology and manual underwriting across a wide criteria spectrum, ModaMortgages offers an automated process for rapid decision-making.
Additionally, both lenders are set to operate autonomously, maintaining separate teams, brand identities, and product offerings.
Andy Mielczarek, founder and CEO of Chetwood, commented on the acquisition, stating that the opportunity to acquire CMI was too compelling to pass up. He emphasised CMI's status as an "established, respected brand in the specialist lending space."
