This is the biggest home loan portfolio sale worldwide, the firms said
Mallesons and Corrs Chambers Westgarth have advised on the financing for Blackstone’s acquisition of HSBC’s $36bn home loan portfolio as the bank leaves Australia’s retail banking market.
Mallesons assisted a consortium of funds managed by Blackstone Credit & Insurance, Blackstone Tactical Opportunities and Blackstone Real Estate Debt Strategies on the financing. It also advised Pepper Money Limited as the latter was named the servicing partner to facilitate a smooth transition on the transaction.
Meanwhile, Corrs guided the arrangers, joint lead managers and dealers on the financing.
“This is a significant transaction for Australia’s residential mortgage market, combining global private capital with an established Australian servicing platform”, Mallesons M&A partner Mark Vanderneut said. “The scale of the portfolio, the financing structure and the number of stakeholders involved required careful coordination across a range of commercial, legal and regulatory workstreams”.
Mallesons said the deal is among the biggest financings of its kind in the APAC region and represented the growing role of private capital and asset-based finance in capital solutions supporting the residential mortgage market. Corrs noted that it is the largest loan portfolio sale and securitisation in Australia thus far.
The appointment of Pepper Money as servicing partner would also maintain continuity for Australian borrowers, Mallesons added.
HSBC indicated in a media release that the rest of its retail business would be wound down in phases over an 18-month period. It would keep its corporate and institutional banking, private banking and asset management businesses in Australia after divesting the loan portfolio.
The acquisition is set to be completed in the first half of 2027 pending regulatory approvals. The bank said the sale was driven by findings from a strategic review of HSBC Australia’s retail business; the deal is anticipated to result in a immaterial loss for HSBC Group.
The Mallesons team that worked with the Blackstone consortium on the deal is led by Vanderneut, M&A partner Henrik Moritz and banking and finance partner Ian Edmonds-Wilson. They worked alongside partners Kate Jackson-Maynes, Mandy Tsang, Lizzie Knight, Wayne Leach, Jennifer Barron and Bryony Evans; and senior associates Jessica Thiyavutikan, Natasha Costa, Amy Wang, Tom Haggerty, Shirly Zhang, Laura FitzGerald, Rouzbeh Ansari and Tash Venaik.
The Mallesons team assisting Pepper Money is spearheaded by partners Anne-Marie Neagle, Joseph Muraca, Kirsten Bowe, Kirsty Faichen and Kathryn Tomasic. They received support from special counsel Karen Litherland, senior associates Emma Bowman and Courtney Logue, and solicitor Georgia Tucker.
The Corrs team advising the arrangers, joint lead managers and dealers is headed up by banking and finance partner Matthew Kaminsky and senior associates Andrew Chong and Jenny Guo. They received support from tax partners Cameron Blackwood and Simon Mifsud. The firm’s banking and finance, tax, financial services and funds, regulatory, and litigation experts pitched in as well.
