"We look forward to working with them closely to bring our propositions to a wider range of individuals across the UK."
Kensington Mortgages has today announced the completion of its sale to Barclays Bank.
Barclays has acquired the business from companies controlled by funds managed by Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and funds affiliated with Sixth Street, which jointly owned the business since 2015.
Kensington, which is based in Maidenhead, has around 600 employees and originated approximately £1.9 billion of mortgages (including retentions) in the year ended 31 March 2022.
As part of the acquisition, first announced in June 2022, all of Kensington’s employees will become part of the wider Barclays Group and Kensington will continue day-to-day business operations as usual.
The business will retain its brand and be a largely standalone business, but now also benefit from the financial strength, deposit funding base and operational reach of Barclays.
Mark Arnold, CEO of Kensington, commented: “Today marks the start of an exciting new chapter of growth for Kensington. We have a strong track-record in the specialist mortgage space, using our proprietary technology, data analytics and human insights to design innovative products and make lending decisions to serve our customer base - the self-employed and those with multiple or variable incomes.
"As a major UK bank with a broad reach and offering, Barclays is well-placed to support our expansion. We look forward to working with them closely to bring our propositions to a wider range of individuals across the UK. And as we enter this new chapter, we would like to thank Blackstone and Sixth Street for all their support and investment over the last eight years.”
Mortgage brokers reacted positively to the news:
Riz Malik, director at R3 Mortgages, commented: "This is fantastic news for the mortgage market as Barclays spices up its lending game with some specialist flavours, not just vanilla. Kensington will now be able to access new funding opportunities while maintaining its brand independence as a specialist lender in a growing market. Barclays can also benefit from Kensington's streamlined process and use of technology. This could be the beginning of more high street lenders diversifying into specialist lending where profit margins are greater."
Scott Taylor-Barr, financial adviser at Carl Summers Financial Services, said: "I'm hoping that Kensington's systems, know-how and service standards rub off on Barclays and not the other way around. Kensington will be a good fit within the Barclays empire. With little overlap between markets, it gives Barclays access to instant growth and market share without competing with itself, or exposing the Barclays brand to higher risk business. The knowledge and skills at Kensington in terms of specialist underwriting could be a real win, too. Kensington in turn gets access to a funding line that will allow them to expand and challenge in the specialist mortgage market like never before. It will be interesting to see how well the two work together in the coming months and years, as well as seeing if any other big brand high street players make moves on any of the other specialist lenders."
Rhys Schofield, managing director at Peak Mortgages and Protection, added: "This is a great bit of news. Not every client fits a high street lender shaped box and Kensington specialise in more real-life type lending scenarios. It's really exciting to see what they can do with the financial backing of a major bank."
