Private lending group Chifley Securities mulling a sale
Private lending group Chifley Securities is in talks about its possible sale to a public-listed company, as the popularity of private lenders continues amid a commercial credit crunch from banks.
It is understood its distribution network has caught the eye of potential buyers although a price has yet to surface.
Since starting out five years ago, the group has been growing a lending distribution network, earning its name as a private lending aggregator with brokerage as well as some direct lending expertise.
Aside from placing funds with other lenders, the group also represents 18 direct funders.
The growth of private lending has surged in the past few years after banks turned off the tap over commercial lending, particularly to residential developers in an effort to cool the market.
Many developers sought development and construction loans from the increasing number of private lenders to allow them to continue operating, many on apartment projects.
While the housing market has cooled, in place of commercial loans a number of developers are now seeking out residual loans or other loans designed specifically for developers that have low or no pre-sales on their projects. This has kept lenders and aggregators such as Chifley active, although lending volumes have dropped off from peak levels in the past few years.
Chifley says it is currently providing three of these kinds “low or no pre-sale” loans a week.
Chifley also says it has lent $2.2 billion over the 2018-2019 financial year in 180 deals to developers in Sydney and Melbourne. The loans range in size from $3 million to $40 million.
Recently the firm tightened up its project lending, particularly to new housing project developers in growth corridors and inexperienced developers as an insurance against the defects crisis in NSW.
Chifley is led by Dominic Lambrinos, and Domenic and Joseph Morello.
