LSL buys Santander mortgage division

Its subsidiary, First Complete Ltd, bought the Spanish bank’s The Mortgage Alliance (TMA), acquiring gross assets worth £250,000.

Under chief executive Simon Embley, the group has made no secret of its desire to grow through “value-accretive acquisitions” while the UK’s housing market remains depressed. It plans to create a “formidable force in the intermediary sphere” through acquisitions.

Its biggest deal was a chain of Halifax estate agencies bought from Lloyds Banking Group for a nominal £1.

It also bought a loss-making mortgage distribution company, Advance Mortgage Funding (AMF), in October last year. The company, which trades as Pink Home Loans, was acquired from Skipton Building Society for £1.59m.

In May 2010 it also bought the assets of specialist mortgage network provider Home of Choice for £1.5m from administrators.

The Mortgage Alliance has been in operation as a mortgage club since 1999 and supports more than 3,500 mortgage intermediaries, giving them access to products and services.

LSL, which until recently was headquartered in York, now has its registered office in Newcastle.

The UK’s second-biggest estate agency chain, it owns the Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agency brands.

LSL floated on the London Stock Exchange in November 2006.