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A transaction valued of up to $1.6 billion is being undertaken by the non-bank to acquire a car loan receivables and leases portfolio from the major bank.
Resimac Group Ltd (Resimac) has agreed to purchase the portfolio of auto loan receivables and leases from Westpac Banking Corporation in a move to “support the strategic growth objectives of Resimac’s asset finance division”.
The transaction has an expected value of between $1.4 billion and $1.6 billion and is expected to complete in the “first half of 2025”.
The sale will finalise Westpac’s divestment of its auto finance business, following its partial sale in 2021.
Commenting on the transaction, Susan Hansen, the interim CEO of Resimac, told The Adviser: “Resimac is committed to offering diverse product options to customers and this transaction further strengthens our position as a competitive non-bank lender.
"We continue to reinforce our position in providing Australian’s a comprehensive range of finance solutions. Purchasing this book represents a step in our asset finance growth plan to expand our footprint in the auto finance sector and enhance our already diverse product range.”
Resimac Asset Finance on a growth path
The move by Resimac follows on from a string of business and portfolio acquisitions in recent years.
Resimac officially launched its asset finance division - Resimac Asset Finance - in 2021 after it acquired Sydney-based lender International Acceptance Group.
The non-bank asset lender began with a loan book of $80 million and seven staff.
The division has since expanded its loan book and staff significantly. Its asset finance book is now over $1 billion (at $1.1 billion) – nearly double the $0.6 billion from FY23 – with June 2024 being a record month for asset finance settlements and application volumes (which were up 37 per cent in the year).
Asset finance settlement volumes – which predominantly come from brokers and third-party wholesale originators – were up 60 per cent in FY24, to $800 million.
In addition, Resimac bought the majority of the asset finance portfolio from Thorn subsidiaries Thorn Australia Pty Ltd (TAPL) and Thornmoney Pty Ltd (Thornmoney) for Resimac Asset Finance (RAF) in 2023. This was for a $150 million portfolio of commercial asset finance loan receivables.
The lender has repeatedly suggested that it was looking to build RAF through both organic growth and potential acquisitions.
[Related: Resimac sees surge in broker applications]
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