The leadership team of the Brightstar Group has regained a controlling stake in the business, completing the acquisition of the remaining private equity-owned shares in an all-cash deal.

The transaction, which comes on the back of a record year for the Brightstar Group, means the leadership team now owns a controlling stake in the Group, with a 54% share in the business.

The announcement comes on the day the Brightstar Group, which includes Brightstar Financial and Sirius Property Finance announced record financial results for 2021. The Group delivered a 28.1% increase in turnover on 2020, rising from £8.1m to £10.4m, and posted a 42.8% increase in capital reserves. Group headcount increased by 15.9%, from 63 in January 2021, to 73 in January 2022.

Lending across the Group rose by 31.7% in 2021 and the business is on a current run rate to deliver £2.078bn of lending this year. The overall Group annual turnover is forecast to increase by 30.2% to £13.5million in 2022 compared to £10.4million in 2021.

Rob Jupp (pictured), group CEO at the Brightstar Group, said: “Returning a controlling stake of the Brightstar Group to the leadership team is a massive achievement. We, rightly, looked for external investment to help us grow six years ago and because that growth has been so successful and sustained, we are now in a position where we have been able to buy those shares back.

“It’s an opportunity that very few businesses have, and it means that we have regained and retained our independence – we don’t have to answer to a corporate shareholder. This is great news for all of our customers as it means, not only do we have full autonomy to continue to invest in our people and technology to develop our proposition, but they can also be assured that we operate without bias or interference.”