Montello is the company that originally “spun out” the LendInvest platform back in June 2013. The writing has been on the wall for the blending of the two businesses for some time. In August Montello and LendInvest combined their lending data – in a move that was clearly a mere precursor to today’s news.
Montello has always handled all mortgage origination duties for the LendInvest platform. The merger simply means that the entirety of Montello’s origination and servicing capacity will now be transferred to LendInvest. As for Montello, it will continue to exist only as a fund manager – one of a number of institutions purchasing loans through the platform that it originally incubated.
Christian Faes is to become CEO of LendInvest as part of the merger, with David Serafini taking on the position of Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Faes commented on the news:
"LendInvest has grown at a considerable pace since launching in May last year. It is now the world's largest peer-to-peer marketplace for real estate mortgages, and our investor inflows are growing exponentially. We are currently originating and funding well in excess of £200m+ (c.$326m+) a year in short-term real estate mortgages, and this is growing month on month.
"It made perfect sense for us to move the mortgage origination and servicing across to LendInvest. Increasingly the value in P2P businesses, is in the ability to originate quality deal-flow that is underwritten sensibly, and to originate in volume. This increases LendInvest's ability to originate in volume, as we get the added synergies from the expanded reach of the brand in the marketplace.
We are one of the leading lenders in the UK short-term mortgage market, with a team of almost 40 experienced professionals, and substantial funding. This move consolidates that position and places us well for future growth."
It’s a telling sign of the times that Montello’s services have been incorporated into LendInvest and not the other way around. The future lies in peer-to-peer lending, and this merger represents an acknowledgement of that fact.
