Login
ISCOVER
LA Group of Companies has announced that SMS Finance has joined the group, expanding the LA Group footprint in the Queensland market.
Consisting of seven companies across lending, financial planning and general insurance, which includes Lending Association, LA Group was set up to cater to a niche of sectors such as medico and agri-finance.
To continue reading the rest of this article, please log in.
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Create free account to get unlimited news articles and more!
Looking for more benefits? Become a Premium Member.
Based on the Sunshine Coast and founded in 1982, SMS Finance will continue their normal day-to-day operations with its directors John McNamara, Joshua Carleton, Brenden Brial and Jonathon Scaroni remaining in their current positions indefinitely.
According to LA Group, their continued relationship with the SMS team is a “key plank to the future success of this agreement”.
Director and founder, Mr McNamara commented that the union will “bring scale” to the company’s business, especially in the areas of marketing, HR and technology.
“There is a significant opportunity to leverage the LA infrastructure, processes and systems to find efficiencies to support our growth ambitions.
“We are celebrating 40 years in business this year and joining forces with the LA Group and Lending Association will help us take our client experience and offering to a new level,” Mr McNamara said.
General manager of strategic projects at LA Group Rob Ryan stated that they are “delighted” to be working with SMS Finance as key executives of the group.
“SMS Finance will bolster the LA Group’s position in the market, enabling LA to expand in areas such as Equipment Finance, which is what SMS Finance are best known for.
“The addition of SMS Finance will enable the LA Group to become one of the largest financial services businesses in Australia,” Mr Ryan stated.
Lending Association state manager QLD/VIC Steve Bourne said: “The LA Group and SMS Finance are founded on the same core values and ethos of looking after our customers and staff.”
“While the future business growth potential is significant and very appealing to both parties, it was the strong cultural alignment that drove the decision to move forward with the purchase.”
Following the expansion of LA Group, Australian e-conveyancing platform PEXA will continue its UK expansion with the acquisition of the British remortgage processing firm Optima Legal.
Announced in early September 2022, this acquisition represented an opportunity to implement PEXA’s digital platform and its associated benefits into the UK Market.
PEXA said the acquisition supports its growth plans in the UK digital conveyancing market in an ASX updated made 8 September 2022.
[RELATED: PEXA expands UK footprint with latest acquisition]
JOIN THE DISCUSSION