Masthaven Gets £60M Equity Investment From Värde Partners

Masthaven, the U.K. specialist bank, and Värde Partners, a global alternative investment firm, announced Wednesday (April 24) the completion of the strategic £60 million equity investment by Värde Partners in Masthaven.

In a press release, Masthaven said the agreement was previously announced in September of 2018, and that the completion of the investment will enable the bank to meet its goal of becoming a leading specialist bank in the U.K. residential and SME markets.

“Masthaven has made tremendous strides in the past few years. We have successfully launched specialist residential and buy-to-let mortgages, plus bolstered our savings suite by entering the SME savings market, all while growing our team to above 170 people and with a balance sheet in excess of £750 million,” said Masthaven Founder and Chief Executive Officer Andrew Bloom in the press release. “Now it’s time for us to further enhance our propositions for both our existing customers and intermediary partners as well as our future clients. Masthaven will deploy the Värde Partners investment to bring more capacity to the U.K. market and enable us to innovate in terms of both our savings and lending propositions.”

The company said the £60 million equity investment from Värde Partners, along with the bank’s existing capital base, will enable it to increase lending to consumers and SMEs over the next three to five years. It also enables Masthaven to provide deposit solutions to customers, according to the press release.

“Masthaven is a rising brand in the U.K. challenger bank scene, and we’re thrilled about the opportunity to work together to enhance the bank’s proposition and to take it to the next level,” said Elena Lieskovska, partner and head of European financial services at Värde Partners in the same press release. “At Värde, we are active in our portfolio companies, favoring the partnership approach to creating value, and that’s exactly how we expect to work with the Masthaven team.”