FREEDOM FINANCE LTD ACQUIRED BY THE SOF ANNEX FUND

Published : 10 years ago, on 06/08/2014

Freedom Finance Ltd (“Freedom Finance”), the UK’s largest personal loan broker, announces that it has been acquired by SOF Annex Fund (“SOF”) as part of the strategic growth plans for its portfolio company, Target Group (“Target”). Freedom Finance was previously controlled by Rupert Webb and a private equity investor.

Since its establishment in 2007, Freedom Finance has undergone strong growth within the loan brokerage market driven by its unique search technology, which provides customers with accurate real time quotations across a panel of both unsecured and secured lenders.

Target is a leading provider of software and outsourced services in the loans, savings and insurance markets. It has over £10bn of loans and savings running on its platform across multiple product types and customers.

The acquisition will bring together Freedom Finance’s brokerage and technology with Target’s industry knowledge, software and servicing expertise providing a compelling proposition to existing and new customers.

Commenting, Nicola Georgiou, Managing Director of Freedom Finance Ltd, said:

“We are delighted to announce that Freedom Finance has been acquired by SOF. We have very ambitious growth plans for the business and SOF are the right shareholders to help us achieve those targets. The diverse portfolio of SOF companies offer us valuable partners with which to expand into other areas of financial services using our unique sourcing platform. We have already identified a number of exciting opportunities and are looking forward to this new growth phase.”

Commenting, Lindsey McMurray, Managing Partner of SOF Investments Ltd, said:

“Freedom Finance will be a fantastic addition to the Target Group allowing us to deliver a compelling proposition with the highest standards of regulatory excellence to both existing and new customers. At SOF we seek to invest in high-quality businesses operating in specialist markets with entrepreneurial and driven management teams. Freedom Finance and the team led by Nicola Georgiou certainly have these qualities and we’re excited about working together to build a business that delivers market-leading products and services to create long-term sustainable success.”

The SOF Annex Fund is advised by SOF Investments Limited, a private equity fund manager focussed on investing in businesses in the financial and business services sectors. To date, they have invested over £1.2bn in a range of businesses across all stages of development.