Third party loan servicer and asset manager Pepper Group has today completed its integration by combining the Oakwood and Engage businesses and changing the name of the UK business to Pepper (UK) Limited.
It will continue to operate primarily as a servicer of UK mortgage assets, and will retain Engage Credit as a trading name in connection with its mortgage administration activities, managing a current portfolio of more than £4 billion. Pepper Group’s total global assets under management now exceed £9 billion.
The company will trade under its new group name from today and its London, Skipton and Madrid sites become part of a network that also includes operational sites in Australia and South Korea as well as existing Pepper operations in Ireland and Spain.
The acquisition reunited Mike Culhane, Patrick Tuttle (joint Pepper co-Group CEOs) and Richard Klemmer (partner at Oakwood), who were key members of the team that set up both Pepper and Oakwood at their origins.
Klemmer becomes CEO of Pepper UK and co-group head of credit, and heads an unchanged senior management team based in London. He said: “Being part of the Pepper Group can only enhance what is already a highly successful business model. Pepper has brought significantly more capital to fund diversification and expansion, plus a worldwide network of operations with a breadth of expertise in managing different asset classes and scales of portfolios. This track record will be invaluable when we are dealing with world-class counterparties.”
Other key people from Oakwood will take on group roles, including partners Laurence Morey and Jerry Parascandolo, who become co-group head of principal investments and European general counsel respectively. This senior team will work closely with the existing Pepper Europe team, also based in London.
Klemmer added: “The integration of Oakwood and ECL into the Pepper Group was a natural step for all concerned. Mike Culhane, Patrick Tuttle and I have worked closely together for over 15 years on different ventures so we know each other’s company culture inside and out. We share the same entrepreneurial visions and ambitions, and most importantly we trust each other completely.”
