A firm backed by a former UBS Australia head is reportedly in the running to snap up the business
Allied Credit, an auto financing company backed by former UBS Australia chief Matthew Grounds, is reportedly in the running to snap up Westpac’s auto loan business.
Westpac is selling its auto loans portfolio through Morgan Stanley. The bank is also offloading its life insurance business, and last month sold its mortgage insurance business to Arch Capital.
Allied Credit’s interest in the auto loans portfolio comes as reports circulate that Grounds has returned to the investment banking space by joining Barrenjoey Capital, a startup launched by several top UBS execs, The Australian reported. Grounds reportedly had a non-solicitation agreement in place that was originally set to expire in December but was later extended to March or April.
Grounds is reportedly an investor in Allied Credit. The company will be competing with Taurus Motor Finance and personal loans provider Plenti to snap up Westpac’s auto loans portfolio, The Australian reported. The prospective buyers are expected to be backed by major private equity funds in their efforts to purchase the business.
Read more: Japanese groups vie for Westpac’s life insurance business
Initially, it was reported that $11 billion in loans were being offered with the business. However, it has now been reported that Westpac is only selling the opportunity to land new business, and would retain its existing loans. That leaves prospective buyers competing for about $2 billion in loans, The Australian reported.
Private equity firms believed to be vying for the portfolio include Cerberus, TPG Capital with Liberty Financial and Bain Capital.
Ryan Smith is currently an executive editor at Key Media, where he started as a journalist in 2013. He has since he worked his way up to managing editor and is now an executive editor. He edits content for several B2B publications across the U.S., Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. He also writes feature content for trade publications for the insurance and mortgage industries.LinkedIn | Email
