U.K. Lender Together Financial Weighs $1.4 Billion Sale

(Bloomberg) -- Together Financial Services Ltd., a U.K. lender focused on mortgages and secured loans, is weighing a sale that could value the business at around 1 billion pounds ($1.4 billion), according to people familiar with the matter.

Rothschild is advising the lender on options that also include an initial public offering, according to the people, who asked not to be named as the details aren’t public. Together could attract interest from established lenders, the people said.

British businessman Henry Moser founded the bank in 1974 and it now has a loan book of about 4 billion pounds. The founders bought back a minority stake from private equity investor Equistone Partners in 2016. Representatives for Together and Rothschild declined to comment.

Together reported growing underlying profit before tax of 44 million pounds for the quarter ended March 31. The firm said at the time that specialist mortgage volumes continued their recovery toward pre-pandemic levels.

It’s the latest smaller British lender to seek new ownership. Banco de Sabadell SA was weighing the sale of its TSB Bank Plc unit last year, Bloomberg reported. British grocer J Sainsbury Plc has also attempted to sell its banking unit in recent months.

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