Australian First Mortgage has announced it will merge with a Queensland-based non-bank lender.
Founding directors Tanya White, David White and Iain Forbes confirmed yesterday that National Mortgage Company (NMC) has acquired the shares of Australian First Mortgage in a move that will see the new combined entity grow its loan book to over $4 billion, write $1 billion a year in new business and generate revenue of over $30 million per annum.
AFM managing director Tanya White said the merger is a “hand-in-glove” fit.
"The merger compliments both of our existing operations and will provide our brokers and their customers with higher levels of service and support,” she said.
“It will combine NMC’s back-office capabilities with AFM’s broker distribution platform and robust branding to build scale and growth.
“In addition, coupling AFM’s national footprint and deep aggregator network with NMC’s operational infrastructure will put the merged entity amongst the largest non-bank lenders in the country, where it can access increased funding lines at very competitive pricing.”
The move follows AFM's recent announcement regarding the retirement of industry legend and joint founding director Iain Forbes.
With the impending departure of Mr Forbes, AFM said it has been actively considering opportunities across a range of complementary financial service providers and, as such, identified growth opportunities within NMC.
AFM said the group's remaining directors – Ms White and Mr White – will remain in the business and take active, long-term roles in driving growth, synergies and opportunity in the new entity.
Established in 2003, AFM is a wholly Australian-owned business. It provides competitive residential, commercial and leasing finance to the Australian market.
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[Related: AFM slashes fixed rates]