Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (‘Freshfields’) is advising companies controlled by funds managed by or affiliated with Blackstone Tactical Opportunities (‘Blackstone’) and Sixth Street Partners (‘Sixth Street’) on the sale of mortgage lender Kensington Mortgages (‘Kensington’), together with a portfolio of UK mortgages, to Barclays Bank UK PLC (‘Barclays’).

Barclays PLC’s announcement of the transaction can be found here (‘Announcement’).  As set out in the Announcement, the total consideration for the transaction is expected to be approximately £2.3 billion.*

Freshfields also advised Blackstone and Sixth Street on their initial acquisition of Kensington in 2015.  Since then, the business has grown its originations at a compound annual growth rate of 22%. Under the joint ownership of Blackstone and Sixth Street, Kensington has improved its processes and expanded its product offerings to become a market leader in specialist lending to the self-employed, first-time buyers, older borrowers and customers with multiple sources of income.

The Freshfields team advising longstanding clients Blackstone and Sixth Street is being led by London-based private equity partner James Scott and senior associate Jay Swain. The team includes partners Peter Clements, James Smethurst and Tom McGrath advising on tax, financial regulatory and antitrust matters, respectively, and senior associate Oliver Aikens providing securitisations advice.

The Freshfields team worked with a team from Paul Hastings, who led on the financing aspects of the transaction.

For further information on the transaction, see the press release from Blackstone and Sixth Street here and here.

*Refer to the Announcement for more information and applicable assumptions.

ENDS