PEXA has announced that it has agreed to acquire specialist property law firm Optima Legal from Capita to support the digitisation of property transactions in the UK.
Optima Legal is a property law firm headquartered in Leeds that provides legal services in the UK’s fee-assisted remortgage and equity release market, working directly with six of the UK’s top eight mortgage lenders, equating to approximately 22% share of the remortgage market.
PEXA’s offering is integrated into Her Majesty’s Land Registry and the Bank of England. By integrating PEXA’s platform, Optima Legal will be able to demonstrate the benefits of digital completions to its lender and customer base, starting with PEXA’s remortgage offering.
The acquisition comes after PEXA made its launch in the UK earlier this year. PEXA’s UK remortgage offering launched yesterday with the Hinckley & Rugby Building Society and legal firm Muve. Shawbrook Bank is set to follow shortly.
PEXA’s broader digital solution to transform the sale and purchase process, building on its remortgage platform, is expected in market in 2024.
James Bawa, Chief Executive, PEXA UK, commented:
“The acquisition of Optima Legal marks a significant step forward for PEXA in the UK and demonstrates the strength of our commitment to delivering transformational change that will benefit consumers, conveyancers and lenders alike.
We look forward to working with the Optima Legal team to integrate our technology, showcasing the benefits of digitisation – from improved accuracy and efficiency to reduced costs. Importantly, our platform will remain available to all. Working with stakeholders across the industry, and starting with remortgaging, we aim to streamline a conveyancing system that has been under significant pressure. One in five borrowers have abandoned the remortgage process in the past two years, given delays, complexity or poor experiences. We want to make that is a thing of the past as interest rates rise.
This announcement complements the confirmation of our first two lenders to go live – Hinckley & Rugby Building Society, our first reference site with a strong track record of supporting new technology entrants into the UK, and Shawbrook Bank, our first retail bank.”
The acquisition of Optima Legal will be funded from PEXA’s existing cash reserves and is subject to customary transaction conditions and approvals, including from the Solicitors Regulatory Authority of England and Wales, and is expected to complete by the end of the 2022 calendar.
One Response
Hopefully this will improve Optima as I always dread having Optima on the other side of a transaction