Brazilian Transactional Marketplace Loft Acquires CrediHome to Expand Credit Capacity

Brazilian transactional real estate marketplace Loft has acquired local credit specialist CrediHome for an undisclosed sum.

Specialising in providing bureaucracy free credit solutions for home-buyers, CrediHome has reportedly already helped Loft to originate some BRL 600 million per month for customers. Since its foundation in 2017 CrediHome has also been active among real estate agents providing them more personalised solutions to offer to their customers.

Loft is one of a new generation of transactional real estate marketplace companies that have grown like weeds in Latin America in recent years. Since 2018 the real estate sales specialist has been offering its customers a rounded experience including search and discovery, advice, loan approval and renovation.

According to Loft's CEO Mate Pencz, the new acquisition will give the marketplace company crucial loan coverage away from the Sao Paulo and Rio area where it is currently strongest:

“The acquisition will allow Loft to expand its financing offering to a larger volume of people, uniting CrediHome’s market knowledge with the technology DNA of both companies,”

The Brazilian market is characterised by a close relationship between the discovery and financing phases of home-hunter journeys. In January CrediHome signed a partnership deal with Mercado Livre to provide financing options to the Latin American giant's real estate customers and earlier this month Loft's rival QuintoAndar, which in 2020 expanded its operations from rentals to sales, bought out mortgage company ATTA Franchising.

Moving further into the world of financial real estate solutions, Loft follows a path that is very much in vogue among forward-thinking real estate marketplace companies all around the world. Both Zoopla and REA Group have recently splashed M&A cash to acquire mortgage brokerage companies and Zillow has long seen its mortgage business as an integral part of its offering.