Mortgage Advice Bureau (MAB) has confirmed that it will buy the remaining 20% stake of First Mortgage Direct for a consideration of £9.35m.
MAB initially purchased an 80% stake in First Mortgage Direct in 2019 and has decided to exercise its option to acquire the remaining 20% from Ian McGrail, managing director of First Mortgage.
McGrail will stay on as managing director.
The firm said that around a quarter of the consideration would be cash, while the remaining three-quarters would be backed by the issue of new ordinary shares.
Consequently, MAB has issued 804,754 ordinary shares of 0.1p each in the capital of the company. The shares are expected to be listed at 8am on 3 June.
First Mortgage is a fee-free mortgage advice firm that has been running for over 25 years. It was initially launched in Scotland, but has expanded nationwide.
First Mortgage made a profit before tax of £5.4m in the year ending on 31 December 2023 and has net assets of £9.3m.
MAB said that it expected the transaction to be “earnings-enhancing”.
Ben Thompson (pictured), deputy CEO, said: “Acquiring an 80% shareholding in First Mortgage in 2019 was strategically important to MAB at the time, enabling us to grow our expertise in specific market specialisms such as new build, and accelerate our overall market share as a group.
“Despite the various challenges we all faced together over the last five years, the business has grown substantially in size and in profitability and has become even more important to MAB. We are therefore really pleased to have now acquired the final 20% shareholding from Ian McGrail.
“Importantly, we are delighted that Ian has decided to commit to stay on as managing director and take First Mortgage further over the coming years, having done such an excellent job of the last five, and indeed the years prior to that.”
In its latest results, MAB’s gross mortgage completions came to £25.1bn, an 8% fall on the prior year.
The firm said that it expected to hire more appointed representative (AR) advisers and firms to its business in the next few months.
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.
