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Aggregation and brokerage business Money Quest Group has acquired a large broking business, its sixth acquisition to date.
Money Quest Group has purchased Keylend – a Top 25 Brokerage 2024 with more than 100 brokers – to “further strengthen the group’s position in the broking sector” and assist Keylend brokers with building stronger businesses.
The transaction was finalised on Thursday (18 July) for an undisclosed sum.
Established in November 1998 and led by founder and CEO Chris Burns, Keylend is currently home to more than 100 finance brokers and is the largest mortgage broking group based in South Australia.
According to The Adviser’s Top 25 Brokerage ranking 2024, the brokerage has a loan book of more than $3.5 billion and settled more than $1.3 billion in the financial year 2023.
Burns will continue to operate as Keylend CEO as part of the transaction.
Speaking of the acquisition, Michael Russell, Money Quest Group’s managing director, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming a new cohort of high-calibre brokers to MQG and can’t wait to add another layer of value to their businesses.
“I have no doubt that they will thrive within our environment and find tremendous value in our professional development programs and industry-leading events.”
According to the group MD, the attraction to purchasing Keylend was partly influenced by the “strong cultural alignment” between the two businesses.
“Having known Chris Burns for 20 years I hold him in extremely high regard and am thrilled that he will be continuing as Keylend’s CEO. Chris has always treated his brokers like extended family, and we take a very similar approach at MQG,” Russell said.
Burns, the Keylend founder and CEO, said: “I have had the pleasure of knowing and working with Michael Russell for nearly 20 years and am confident that our brokers and their clients will be well served under his leadership.
“MQG’s broker support services are exceptional and the executive team’s industry experience and passion is second to none.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our brokers to leverage new resources, training programs and technology, to better their businesses.”
Both Money Quest Group and Keylend use the MyCRM technology (the proprietary technology platform of Loan Market Group), which Russell has said would help make the transition of the company “seamless” and not disrupt “the operational rhythm” for Keylend brokers.
The deal marks Money Quest Group’s sixth acquisition to date (having acquired Southern Cross Broker Network, Loans Actually, and Buyers Choice in the past few years alone), with Russell saying the group continues to have appetite for further acquisitions.
“We continue to have an appetite to grow organically and acquisitively,” he said.
“The addition of Keylend will take us to over 600 brokers nationally and see us continuing to search for quality brokers to recruit, as well as strong state-based and national broker groups to acquire.
“With growth comes scale and with scale comes improved operational efficiencies and resource allocation, which will further fuel the support we offer to our brokers.”
[Related: Money Quest Group acquires Southern Cross Broker Network]
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