FCA approves Skipton's HML sale

Australia-based Computershare announced the acquisition of the mortgage servicing business from parent company Skipton Building Society, subject to regulatory approval, in July in a deal worth £47.5m.

The initial consideration will generate a profit of £26m and will appear in Skipton’s results in the second half of this year.

Computershare has stated it will “invest in the mortgage servicer, grow it and provide the scale and investment to allow it to take advantage of developing opportunities.”

HML services almost 60% of the residential mortgage market in the UK and Ireland.

Andrew Jones, chief executive officer of HML, said:

“I am delighted that HML and Computershare will be working together, and Computershare becoming our parent company is excellent news for the business and those who work at HML, as well as our clients and their customers.

“Computershare is committed to investing in and growing HML, allowing us to continue to be the leading third-party mortgage administration company in the UK and Ireland. With the desire to grow the business and develop the specialist expertise that HML has, it’s clear to me that culturally we are much aligned with Computershare.

“HML has had 25 years of successfully delivering value to clients, customers, our people and our former parent, and this deal will secure the future of the company for many more years to come.”

David Cutter, chief executive of Skipton, said:

“HML has been a major success story for Skipton of which we are very proud.

“However, we anticipate major growth opportunities arising in the mortgage outsourcing market which are best seized by the investment from a large multinational company.”

Skipton’s results for the six months to the end of June 2014 revealed that HML delivered a profit before tax of £200,000, compared to £300,000 in the first half of 2013.