Castle Trust Bank has been acquired by vehicles backed by the US investment firms, Sixth Street and Bayview.

The specialist bank, which was owned by the London-based private equity firm, J.C. Flowers & Co, serves nearly 170,000 customers, and will continue to be led by its experienced management team, including CEO, Martin Bischoff.

As equal partners, Sixth Street and Bayview said they will bring “significant financial strengthen, deep expertise in credit markets and asset-based finance, and a long investment horizon” to the bank.

The US investment firms have agreed to commit additional capital to fuel growth across the business, including expanding the bank’s retail savings franchise, broadening its product offering and attracting additional customer deposits.

The firms will also commit to deepening their specialist property and retail finance offerings through the bank’s omni capital retail finance business.

Bischoff said the investment from Sixth Street and Bayview is a “strong endorsement” of the bank’s strategy and its future potential.

He added: "We have grown customer savings balances to more than £1.6bn, built a specialist property finance loan book of more than £1.1bn and a retail finance loan book exceeding £200m — establishing a strong platform for future growth.

"With the backing of our new shareholders, we are well placed to invest in our customer proposition, expand across retail savings, specialist property and retail finance, and pursue additional growth opportunities while maintaining a disciplined focus on risk and delivering sustainable outcomes for customers, colleagues, brokers, retailers, and partners."

Managing director, asset based finance at Sixth Street, Masashi Washida, stated: "We look forward to working with Martin and the highly seasoned management team to support Castle Trust Bank in continuing to deliver the exceptional service its customers expect.

"Together with Bayview, we believe the Bank’s experienced leadership and its robust, well-established risk and technology platform create a strong foundation for sustainable growth and scalable operations at an attractive time in the market."

Managing director at Bayview, Pierre Lussato, concluded: "Castle Trust Bank has built an impressive reputation for customer service, specialist expertise, and prudent growth.

"We look forward to supporting the Bank's continued growth across savings, specialist lending, and retail finance, while it delivers innovative products and excellent customer outcomes."

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