Bridging lender, Hampshire Trust Bank, has announced that it has been acquired by Alchemy Partners LLP.

Hampshire Trust, a bank established in Hampshire in 1977 to provide savings and specialist lending services, has announced that it has been bought out by Alchemy Partners LLP.

Hampshire Trust, a once prolific bridging lender has been under speculation of a buyout for some time now - with many looking to capitalise on an oppurtunity to obtain a banking licence.

In a statement on its website, Hampshire Trust simply said: “Funds advised by Alchemy Special Opportunities have today completed the acquisition of Hampshire Trust Plc from National Counties Building Society following receipt of approval from the Prudential Regulatory Authority and Financial Conduct Authority. No further details of the transaction have been disclosed.”

B&C also understands, that Associate Director, Simon Atherton, has left voluntarily as a result.

Alchemy, a British private equity firm, is best known for being the funding line behind secured loans giant, Swift Advances.

Following the acquisition, Hampshire Trust Bank has announced the appointment of Graham Picken as Chairman.

Graham’s appointment will see Hampshire Trust focussing on providing specialist finance to the SME sector.

Graham boasts a thirty-year career with Midland and HSBC Banks where, prior to retirement, he was General Manager responsible for Commercial and Corporate Banking.

He was formerly Chief Executive of Forward Trust Group and Chairman of First Direct.

He is joined as an Independent Non-Executive Director by Robert East, who chairs the Risk Committee. He is also Chief Executive of Cattles Limited and a Non-Executive Director of Skipton Building Society. 

He was formerly Chief Risk Officer at ABSA and held senior roles in retail and corporate banking at Barclays over 30 years.

Also joining the Board are Dominic Slade, the Managing Partner of Alchemy, Alex Leicester, a partner at Alchemy and Ketan Malde as Chief Financial Officer. 

He brings more than 30 years’ experience in financial services gained at organisations including Heritable Bank and Sun Bank.

Speaking on the news, Graham Picken, Chairman of Hampshire Trust Bank, said: “I am delighted to be joining Hampshire Trust Bank at such an exciting and formative time.  Our plans to develop a specialist lending bank focussed on the needs of SMEs and experienced Residential Property Developers delivered by experienced experts promises to fill a significant gap in the market for SME finance.” 

Mark Sismey-Durrant, CEO of Hampshire Trust for the past 2 and a half years, added: “I feel fortunate that we have brought together such an experienced Board to help us build a successful business.  I have a high-calibre team working alongside me that shares my passion and commitment to Hampshire Trust Bank and its future success.

“Our focus will be on building a sustainable, profitable and growing business over the medium-term to serve the needs of SME customers.  We aim to provide a highly specialist and responsive service delivered by experts, adhering to extremely high and traditional values of excellence and sector-specific experience.  Initially, the business will provide asset finance and residential property development finance for experienced SME house builders, and we will be looking to broaden the range of services we offer in due course.  This will be funded by a range of retail and SME deposits as well as the extra capital injection provided by our new shareholders.”