Walker Morris Team advises Morses Club on acquisition of U Holdings

26th June 2019

A team of specialist corporate lawyers at Walker Morris have advised West Yorkshire credit provider, Morses Club, on its acquisition of Sheffield-based digital current account provider, U Holdings, for up to £10.8 million.

Batley-headquartered Morses Club has acquired U Holdings, trading as U Account, through its fully owned subsidiary Shelby Finance. The acquisition comprises of an initial cash consideration of £5.8m, financed from existing Morses Club cash and debt facilities, and deferred consideration of up to £5m, payable over the next four years to February 2023 – conditional upon certain net profit criteria having been met.

The deal will see Morses Club acquire U Account’s technology and e-money banking platform, as well as 20,000 current active customers.

Morses Club said many of its existing 235,000 customers had expressed interest in opening an online current account, making U Account’s digital platform particularly complementary to Morses Club’s existing offering. Morses Club plans to leverage its proven expertise in lending to the non-standard credit market to offer U Account customers new lending products and services to meet their financial needs.

The Walker Morris Team was led by Debbie Jackson and Simon Cuerden with assistance from Luke Riley and Frances Scarisbrick (Corporate), Jeanette Burgess (Regulatory), Lee Crook (Commercial).

Paul Smith, Chief Executive Officer of Morses Club, said:

“This acquisition represents a fantastic opportunity to enter the rapidly growing online banking market. U Account features the full suite of digital banking services and has grown its customer base to c.20,000 active customers. U Account’s offering is highly complementary to that of Morses Club, and through this acquisition we expect to deliver significant synergies and cross selling opportunities.

“This is another exciting step for Morses Club as, consistent with our stated strategy, we continue to diversify our product offering to serve a broader range of customers across the non-standard credit space. Our differentiated use of technology and innovation enables Morses Club’s customers to access a broader range of more flexible and suitable credit.”

Debbie Jackson at Walker Morris added:

“We’ve been delighted to advise and support Morses Club on the acquisition of U Holdings. It is a pleasure to work with such a successful Yorkshire company. This latest acquisition will further enhance their capabilities and is a great step forward to achieving their growth strategies.”