Chetwood Financial has completed the acquisition of CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries (CMI) from Barossa Asset Purchaser Sarl.

The deal follows a competitive bidding process to acquire the buy-to-let (BTL) mortgage lender, which trades as CHL Mortgages.

Throughout the process, Chetwood, CMI and Barossa have ensured a seamless transition between owners, with CMI to continue operating as usual with no planned downtime or impact to its lending operations.

The move will enable Chetwood to grow its mortgage loan book and expand its reach within the mortgage intermediary market, while CMI’s specialist lending team will complement Chetwood’s ModaMortgages’ proposition, which the digital bank intends to launch soon.

Like CMI, ModaMortgages will be a specialist BTL lender, with both operating exclusively through intermediaries.

Chetwood Financial founder and CEO, Andy Mielczarek, said: “When the chance presented itself to acquire CMI, we felt it was simply too good an opportunity to miss out on, so we’re delighted that the deal is now complete. CMI is an established, respected brand in the specialist lending space, and we have ambitions to grow operations further in the months and years to come.

“The CMI proposition will complement that of our soon-to-launch ModaMortgages’ proposition perfectly. We’re excited to see both brands flourish side-by-side – and while they will operate independently, there’s no doubt that having so much specialist lending knowledge and skill within Chetwood will only contribute to their respective successes.”

Commercial director at CMI, Ross Turrell, added: “This is a fantastic opportunity to join forces with a digital bank well established in funding BTL mortgages through the intermediary market. Chetwood’s ambitious growth plans, which include the launch of ModaMortgages, will enable us to continue to develop our competitive product range and broad criteria offering which has been well received by our intermediary partners.

“It’s an exciting next step on our journey and one which the management team and colleagues at CMI is very much looking forward to taking.”

---