Digital bank Chetwood Financial has completed the acquisition of the buy-to-let mortgage lender CHL Mortgages for Intermediaries (CMI) from Barossa Asset Purchaser Sarl.

CMI will continue to operate as usual with no planned downtime or impact to its lending operations.

The acquisition allows Chetwood to grow its mortgage loan book and expand its reach within the mortgage intermediary market.

Chetwood said that it will soon launch ModaMortgages , a specialist buy-to-let lender. Both ModaMortgages and CMI will operate through intermediaries.

The bank explained that while ModaMortgages provides an automated process focused on fast decisions, CMI blends technology and manual underwriting.

The two lenders will co-exist independently, each with its own brands, products and teams. Chetwood said the two lenders will complement one another and benefit from the sharing of skills, experience and expertise.

“When the chance presented itself to acquire CMI, we felt it was simply too good an opportunity to miss out on, so we’re delighted that the deal is now complete,” said Andy Mielczarek, founder and chief executive of Chetwood Financial. “CMI is an established, respected brand in the specialist lending space, and we have ambitions to grow operations further in the months and years to come.”

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