Chester-based Legal Marketing Services (LMS) has been acquired by Partners for Finance (PfF). This specialist provider of outsourced services to the financial services sector is led by Alistair Lyons, who in former days was chief executive of National & Provincial Building society and NPI. Lyons is also planning to establish an equity-release specialist called In Retirement Services (IRS).
LMS is one of the UK’s market leaders in outsourced legal services to the residential property sector. It was introduced to PfF through PfF’s relationship with 3i’s Manchester office, which transacted the acquisition. LMS manages a network of around 300 high street solicitors to provide customer focused remortgages and conveyancing services to lenders and estate agents. The business, which currently has a turnover of £30 million, has experienced rapid growth on the back of buoyant remortgage activity and strong new client acquisition.
PfF is building a broad set of specialist outsourced administration, processing and product manufacture services for the financial services sector.
IRS is a start-up company, which provides equity release products for companies to market under their own brand name. This is a rapidly growing sector where four million households aged over 65 have an estimated £400 billion worth of equity in their homes.
