Castle Trust Bank has been acquired by global investment firm, Sixth Street, and affiliates of Bayview Asset Management, a global alternative investment management firm.
Castle Trust Bank will continue to be led by its management team, including CEO Martin Bischoff (pictured).
In addition, Sixth Street and Bayview have agreed to commit additional capital to fuel growth across the business, including expanding the Bank’s retail savings franchise and broadening its product offering, while deepening its commitment to specialist property and retail finance through its Omni Capital Retail Finance business.
Castle Trust was launched in 2012, offering investment products and specialist mortgage finance. In 2017, Castle Trust expanded its services through the purchase of Omni Capital Retail Finance. In June 2020, Castle Trust received its banking license and became Castle Trust Bank. Today, its range include savings, specialist bridging and term mortgages, and retail finance.
Martin Bischoff commented: "This investment from Sixth Street and Bayview is a strong endorsement of our strategy, our people, and our future potential. We have grown customer savings balances to more than £1.6 billion, built a specialist property finance loan book of more than £1.1 billion and a retail finance loan book exceeding £200 million — establishing a strong platform for future growth.
"With the backing of our new shareholders, we are well placed to invest in our customer proposition, expand across retail savings, specialist property and retail finance, and pursue additional growth opportunities while maintaining a disciplined focus on risk and delivering sustainable outcomes for customers, colleagues, brokers, retailers, and partners."
Masashi Washida, managing director of asset based finance at Sixth Street, said: “We look forward to working with Martin and the highly seasoned management team to support Castle Trust Bank in continuing to deliver the exceptional service its customers expect
“Together with Bayview, we believe the Bank’s experienced leadership and its robust, well-established risk and technology platform create a strong foundation for sustainable growth and scalable operations at an attractive time in the market.”
Pierre Lussato, managing director at Bayview, added: "Castle Trust Bank has built an impressive reputation for customer service, specialist expertise, and prudent growth. We look forward to supporting the Bank's continued growth across savings, specialist lending, and retail finance, while it delivers innovative products and excellent customer outcomes.”
