I have been watching YBR for some time now but haven't had the...

I have been watching YBR for some time now but haven't had the spare cash to jump in and may have missed the boat.

The announcements from YBR regarding their growth ambitions are interesting. It appears that the plan for their mortgage business is to achieve expansion to around $22B from the current $2B and to do that via acquisition/s. The timetable appears to be within six months (as part of their three year strategic plan).

To move from $2B to $22B in that timeframe won't happen without acquisition/s so which companies are being considered.

The companies with large mortgage businesses are either owned or linked to the major banks, OR, can be ruled out as their market capitalisation would be too much for YBR to handle. There are some bit players but YBR would need to acquire quite a number of those to move to $22B. That would be messy, time-consuming and anyway they most likely wouldn't be willing sellers.

So, are there any willing sellers?

The only one that comes to mind is FIRSTFOLIO (FFF).

FFF has a loan book of almost $20B so that would be a fit, and the FFF business appears to also fit the functionality YBR is aiming to achieve. FFF is also an independent.

Additionally FFF is understood to be a willing seller at the right price. A recent proposal to purchase a majority shareholding (and control) had the support of the FFF Board, but fell over at the final hurdle. FFF has cashflow and economies of scale bt YBR should be possible.
Resimac/BNL has ownership of around 15% of FFF and could make things interesting for any new potential purchasers such as YBR.

I have shares in FFF, so if YBR does move on FFF then I may end up with some YBR shares anyway.

It is a little confusing that YBR is also planning a share buyback during this planned period of expansion when cash in hand would seem desireable. There is of course no guarantee that YBR will actually action the buyback (either in full or part).

It would appear that payment (at least in part) for the planned acquisitions could be via the issue of shares.

The information regarding FFF has all been gleaned from company announcements.

Interesting times.

DYOR - don't rely on my rambling for your decisions as I am not a licensed investment advisor.