An agreement for Athene Holding Ltd. to acquire Foundation Home Loans has been made.

The New York Stock Exchange-listed firm specialises in the issuing, reinsuring and acquisition of retirement savings products.

It was formed in 2009 and has offices in Bermuda, the United States, and London.

Foundation says its operations makes it a “natural investor in the mortgage loans originated” by the lender.

Currently, Foundation has a £3bn of buy-to-let and owner occupied mortgages on its books.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approval and will be managed by Athene’s asset management partner Apollo Global Management, which is also listed on New York’s stock exchange.

Foundation commercial director George Gee comments: “Foundation Home Loans is pleased to announce the new ownership, which will allow us to continue to pursue our growth plans and further support our partners in the intermediary mortgage market.

“The access to Athene’s balance sheet will greatly strengthen and diversify Foundation Home Loans’ sources for funding its lending, providing intermediary partners with even greater confidence in the solutions we offer to its clients.”

Athene chairman and chief executive Jim Belardi says: “This transaction continues our longstanding strategy of working with Apollo to identify and invest in attractive businesses which add direct origination asset sourcing capabilities to our alpha-generating investment portfolio.

“We believe our investment will help Foundation Home Loans achieve its full potential, while being a complementary addition to our expanding asset sourcing capabilities.”

Apollo partner Christopher Hojlo adds: “We expect that Foundation Home Loans will contribute high-quality assets to Athene’s residential mortgage portfolio of loans and structured securities, which exceeded $13bn of net invested assets as of 31 March 2021 and exhibits a strong yield profile that is indicative of the alpha generation the asset class can offer.”