Kensington Mortgages has announced the completion of its sale to Barclays Bank 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 ending 31th March 2022.
The business claims to be recognised for its “market-leading data and technology platform, which has facilitated profitable growth, product innovation and exceptional loan underwriting performance”.
Mark Arnold, CEO of Kensington, said:
“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 part of the acquisition, 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 standalone business.
The firm also noted that they will “benefit from the financial strength, deposit funding base, and operational reach of Barclays as it looks to continue its journey of growth and innovation to support a range of borrowers with complex incomes”. Arnold added:
“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.”
