Barnes brand to live on

Speaking to Mortgage Business, Homeloans chief executive Scott McWilliam confirmed that Barnes will not be rebranded.

“We value the Barnes Home Loans brand,” Mr McWilliam said, adding that the Barnes and Homeloans brands will sit “side by side”.

On Tuesday, the listed non-bank lender announced it had purchased Barnes for a sum that will be disclosed in the group’s profit results later today.

The acquisition will see Homeloans grow its loan book by $500 million.

Commenting on the deal, Barnes co-founder and executive director Janelle Rayner said both groups have the same philosophy on credit and are focused on third-party lending.

“It’s going to give them [brokers] more competitive pricing, a better product range and new systems,” she said.

“Obviously we can bring in new efficiencies into the business; we do give very fast approvals but we hope we can improve on that.”

Aside from new ownership, Ms Rayner said it is “business as usual” at Barnes.

“Nothing is going to change with Barnes. We’re going to still be Barnes, it’s just that we’re going to have more strength in the background and better products and better pricing,” she said.