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Realestate.com.au has announced it will acquire a majority stake in mortgage broking franchise business Smartline and has entered into a strategic partnership with NAB.
The online portal will acquire an 80.3 per cent stake in Smartline, with the remaining 19.7 per cent shareholding to be retained by the existing management team. This team will continue to be led by executive director and co-founder Chris Acret and will operate under its current structure and brand.
Smartline is one of Australia’s premier mortgage broking franchise groups with over 300 advisers nationally, settling more than $6 billion in loans annually with a total loan book of approximately $25 billion.
Meanwhile, Realestate.com.au’s partnership with NAB is aimed at building a mortgage broking solution which will enable the online portal to offer a broking service when it launches Home Loans later this year.
REA Group CEO Tracey Fellows said the stake in Smartline and deal with NAB will give the REA Financial Services segment greater scale in the long term, and strengthen realestate.com.au’s move into financing.
“Building a strong presence in the broker market channel is an important part of our financial services strategy. These investments allow us to enter a new market with two of the industry’s most trusted and successful mortgage broking operations,” Ms Fellows said.
“Providing a broker solution will complement the digital search and finance experience we are building in partnership with NAB on realestate.com.au. It’s about giving people greater choice when selecting the right home loan for them.”
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