Pepper Advantage Group, which owns mortgage servicing business Pepper here, has agreed a deal to buy Irish mortgage lender Dilosk.
Dilosk, which trades as ICS Mortgages, will continue to operate under its own brand and as a standalone business within the PA Group, following the deal, the companies said.
Pepper is best known in Ireland for its mortgage servicing business, which manages books of mortgages on its own behalf and for other investors that bought debts here mostly in the wake of the financial crisis. It is part of the wider Pepper Advantage group that’s in turn owned by US investment firm J.C. Flowers & Co.
Dislosk emerged from an acquisition of the former ICS Mortgages from Bank of Ireland in 2014 and has established itself as a non bank lender, tapping bond markets to fund lending for owner occupier and buy-to-let mortgages.
Pepper Advantage has €75bn in assets under management across Ireland, Spain, and the UK.
Pepper Advantage said the transaction will combine Dilosk’s strong Irish mortgage franchise with Pepper Advantage’s credit management and technology platform, extending the combined group’s capabilities across the full lending value chain, from origination through to end-to-end servicing.
Institutional clients, large scale financial investors, will be able to deploy capital directly into assets originated and serviced by Dilosk’s and Pepper Advantage’s well-established lending, servicing and technology infrastructure, they said.
Dilosk’s current shareholders will full sell their stakes as part of the deal but management, led by CEO and co-founder Fergal McGrath, will remain in situ after the deal.
He said the sale would be good for Dilsok customers and backers.
“This transaction represents a highly positive outcome for Dilosk, our customers, our investors and our colleagues. “
Fraser Gemmell, Group CEO of Pepper Advantage, said it marked a significant step forward in his group’s growth strategy.
“By welcoming Dilosk into the group, we are deepening our credit access capabilities, diversifying our business in Ireland, and scaling the reach of our credit management platform. It will strengthen our ability to offer institutional clients more ways to access credit opportunities supported by market-leading analytics and oversight, in addition to expanding our European AUM. “
The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to complete in late Q3 2026.
Following completion, Dilosk will continue to operate under its established ICS Mortgages brand, with its existing management team and regulatory framework, and will continue to execute its strategic initiatives.
Dilosk’s most recent full year accounts showed it generated a company-level profit of €5.5m in 2024, up 80pc on 2023.
Dilosk’s total outstanding lending to customers is now €1.7bn, up from €1.28bn at the end of 2024.
In 2024 Dilosk acquired a €400m portfolio of prime residential mortgages from Ulster Bank, adding around 4,000 new customers.