The Financial Intermediary and Broker Association (FIBA) has teamed up with Grant Thornton’s financial services deals team.
The partnership means that FIBA members can access Grant Thornton’s “integrated, multi-disciplinary deals team” and “in-depth knowledge of the specialist finance sector”. This covers M&A trends, deal structures and valuations.
Martin Reynolds (pictured), chair of the FIBA, said: “We are pleased to welcome Grant Thornton, and the calibre of assistance it is able to provide, to our lender panel and members looking for support across their services in this sector.
“We look forward to embarking on the journey of education regarding their professional observations and understanding of elements within our sector and achieving a deeper comprehension.”
Simon Blackburn, head of financial services M&A in Grant Thornton’s corporate finance practice, added: “Grant Thornton’s financial services deals practice has a long history of working with the owners and managers of specialist lenders and intermediaries.
“Whilst sector M&A activity has been subdued in recent years due to the impact of the likes of Covid-19, rising inflation and interest rates, appetite for M&A is returning as latent customer demand remains high, interest rates appear to have stabilised and market optimism has increased.
“We look forward to sharing our sector and M&A insights with the FIBA membership and having the opportunity to demonstrate our support to the sector.’’
In February this year, the FIBA added Paragon to its lender panel.
Anna is currently the deputy editor for Mortgage Solutions and editor for Specialist Lending Solutions. She has worked as a journalist since 2019, having secured her Gold Standard NCTJ diploma from News Associates in a fast-track six-month course.
She started her career as a report at specialist publication The Insurance Insider covering a wide range of areas before joining Mortgage Solutions and Specialist Lending Solutions in 2021.
In her role, she helps put together and structure the news agenda for the day and writes up press releases, reports, interviews, analyses and exclusives across both titles. She also commissions blogs for Specialist Lending Solutions and hosts online masterclasses and in-person events across the business.
She has been shortlisted for three journalism awards, which include BIBA Journalist and Media Awards Scoop of Year Award in 2020, Headline Money Mortgage Journalist of the Year Award (B2B) in 2022 and 2023.
Prior to being a journalist, Anna worked in ecommerce across Snow + Rock, Cycle Surgery and Runners Need websites, and before that worked at specialist financial PR firm Rostrum.
In her spare time, Anna enjoys reading, seeing live music, and cooking for friends and family. When she gets a chance, she also enjoys hiking, skiing and indoor rock climbing.
