In Germany, Interhyp and Dr.

Small – according to FAZ information, a new challenger is now emerging: Three of the ten largest providers are merging: Baufi24, Hüttig & Rompf and Creditweb are merging under the aegis of the private equity house Nordic Capital to form a new company called Bilthouse.

Combined, they employ 360 sales people and operate 130 stores - and they plan to grow in both respects.

"The number of consultants and the number of offices should be expanded," said future Bilthouse CEO Tomas Peeters of the FAZ. He is the head of Baufi24 and should keep this post in personal union - just like the managements of the other companies should continue to exist with the existing brands.

"We believe we can reach more customers with a multi-brand strategy," said Peeters.

Nordic Capital acquires a majority stake in Bilthouse - and brings an additional initial investment of 30 million euros into the holding company, which is intended to serve the expansion.

The actual purchase price remains secret.

Intermediaries sift through bank offers

Credit intermediaries compare offers from financial institutions and, based on their research, select the best ones for their customers.

Nordic Capital sees Hüttig & Rompf as number three on the market and Baufi24 as number four.

According to their own statements, the trio including Creditweb is currently brokering a total financing volume of 5 billion euros - in a market whose volume is stated to be 284 billion euros.

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According to Klein, 700 financial advisors mediated a loan volume of 9.9 billion euros last year.

Interhyp states its volume at 34.2 billion euros - with estimates that less than half may be attributable to business with private end customers.

From the point of view of private equity, the transaction is striking in two respects: Firstly, Nordic Capital is entering the financial service provider segment for the first time in the German-speaking region – DACH region (Germany, Austria, Switzerland).

"Bilthouse is Nordic Capital's first financial services investment in the DACH region, a market with great potential at the interface between financial services and technology," says Rainer Lenhard, Partner at Nordic Capital and co-leader for this region.

On the other hand, financial investors usually take over one company or, more rarely, two, which are then merged.

Combining three in one transaction is unusual.

Societies complement each other in their strengths

According to the buyer, the companies complement each other's strengths: Baufi24 in online brokerage, Hüttig & Rompf in personal advice, Creditweb in the sales partner network and follow-up financing.

Bilthouse should offer technical network advantages (synergies), for example through common platforms for comparing conditions and rely heavily on digitization.

Bilthouse is to sift through loan offers from 1,000 banks.

The total of 700 employees – in addition to 360 sales people, there are 100 IT people and 240 other employees – will continue to work from the usual locations.

Baufi24 is based in Hamburg, Hüttig & Rompf in Frankfurt, and Creditweb in Cologne.

Outside the German-speaking region, Nordic Capital is already active in financial services and currently has six companies in the sector in its portfolio, including the credit broker Sambla Group, the receivables management company Intrum and the digital retail banks Nordax and Bank Norwegian.

In Germany, the investor attracted attention primarily through its investments in medical companies, including the wheelchair manufacturer Sunrise Medical, the service provider GHD and the nursing home operator Alloheim.