Brightstar Group buys out Private Equity investor on the back of a record year
The leadership team of the Brightstar Group has regained a controlling stake in the business, completing the acquisition of the remaining private equity-owned shares in an all-cash deal.
The transaction, which comes on the back of a record year for the Brightstar Group, means the leadership team now owns a controlling stake in the Group, with a 54% share in the business.
The announcement comes on the day the Brightstar Group, which includes Brightstar Financial and Sirius Property Finance announced record financial results for 2021. The Group delivered a 28.1% increase in turnover on 2020, rising from £8.1m to £10.4m, and posted a 42.8% increase in capital reserves. Group headcount increased by 15.9%, from 63 in January 2021, to 73 in January 2022.
Lending across the Group rose by 31.7% in 2021 and the business is on a current run rate to deliver £2.078bn of lending this year. The overall Group annual turnover is forecast to increase by 30.2% to £13.5m in 2022 compared to £10.4m in 2021.
As part of its ongoing growth and development the Brightstar Group has today launched a new group website, featuring key information about the brands, people and ongoing strategy. The new website is available at thebrightstargroup.co.uk.
Robert Sinclair, chief executive at the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries (AMI), said: “The mortgage intermediary and advice community continues to go from strength to strength. This announcement from Brightstar should be celebrated across the industry as we see a firm that has raised finance to grow and is now able to restructure based on its profitability and creative leadership. This is indicative of an intermediary sector that is growing up and maturing into a real positive force for good.”
Adrian Moloney, group intermediary director, OSB Group commented: “Congratulations to the leadership team at the Brightstar Group who have taken this important step in retaining control and supporting their future growth. Transactions like this are a good indication of the strength of the intermediary mortgage market and, in particular, the specialist distribution sector. We’re looking forward to working with the Brightstar Group on future developments as they continue to evolve this exciting part of the market.”
Rob Jupp, group CEO at the Brightstar Group, said: “Returning a controlling stake of the Brightstar Group to the leadership team is a massive achievement. We, rightly, looked for external investment to help us grow six years ago and because that growth has been so successful and sustained, we are now in a position where we have been able to buy those shares back. It’s an opportunity that very few businesses have, and it means that we have regained and retained our independence – we don’t have to answer to a corporate shareholder. This is great news for all of our customers as it means, not only do we have full autonomy to continue to invest in our people and technology to develop our proposition, but they can also be assured that we operate without bias or interference.”
