Houlihan Lokey Advises Masthaven Bank

Houlihan Lokey is pleased to announce that Masthaven Bank Ltd. has received a £60 million capital investment from Värde Partners. The transaction closed on 29 April 2019.

Masthaven launched as a retail bank in 2016. It offers award-winning saving and lending products. Prior to that, Masthaven Finance has provided a flexible and personalised approach to bridging loans and secured lending since 2004. Today, the bank’s knowledgeable and experienced specialists are committed to providing customers with flexible and fixed-term savings accounts, bridging loans, development finance, and mortgages. In 2017 it was named Most Innovative Savings Provider in the Moneynet Personal Finance Awards and Best Bridging Lender in the Coreco Awards. Masthaven Finance featured in 2015’s The Sunday TimesVirgin Fast Track 100 (at number 81). The bank ranked 240 in Financial Times FT1000 list published in 2017. The bank is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and Prudential Regulation Authority.

Värde Partners is a $14 billion global alternative investment firm that employs a value-based approach to investing across a broad array of geographies, segments, and asset types, including specialty finance, corporate credit, real estate, mortgages, energy, real assets, and infrastructure. The firm sponsors and manages a family of private investment funds with a global investor base that includes foundations and endowments, pension plans, insurance companies, other institutional investors, and private clients. Now in its third decade, Värde employs more than 300 people globally with regional headquarters in Minneapolis, London, and Singapore.

The investment will enable the bank to deliver against its stated ambition to become one of the leading specialist banks in UK residential and SME markets. The £60 million equity investment from Värde Partners, along with Masthaven’s existing capital base, will enable the bank to significantly increase lending to consumers and SMEs over the next three to five years as well as provide innovative deposit solutions to Masthaven’s customers.

This most recent transaction further strengthens Houlihan Lokey's leadership in the banking and specialty finance space and highlights its momentum and leadership in the FIG sector and demonstrable track record of successfully raising capital in this space.