Inovayt, a brokerage and advice business, has made its latest acquisition.
The mortgage brokerage purchased Fresh Home Loans, a brokerage in Adelaide, Nick Reilly, founder and chief executive officer of Inovayt, told Australian Broker. The deal closed in December 2025. Fresh Home Loans, which was formerly the mortgage business arm of Adelaide-based real estate company Ouwens Casserly Real Estate, has been rebranded to Inovayt. One broker from Fresh Home Loans will remain on board in Adelaide, bringing Inovayt's total broker count across geographies to 17.
Reilly, who is based in Melbourne, declined to disclose financial details, but said Inovayt completed a full acquisition of Fresh Home Loans, purchasing 100% of the company. Judo Bank was used to finance the transaction. Fresh Home Loans loan book is worth roughly $150 million.
The deal, Reilly said, reflects Inovayt's ambitions to grow nationally.
"We're trying to get a national footprint, and we were looking for an opportunity in the Adelaide market," Reilly said of the acquisition. "And what attracted us was obviously a great established broker. But also, we will continue to work with the real estate group, which is quite a big real estate group from a referral point of view."
Melbourne-based Inovayt, which was founded by Reilly in 2007, has offices in Brisbane and Victoria. The mortgage brokerage covers both residential and commercial finance, as well as wealth management and equipment finance, including car loans. Reilly said about 60% of the firm's revenue streams come through its residential mortgage books.
Inovayt made its last acquisition, Queensland’s Fast Break Finance, in January 2025. Reilly said New South Wales, and possibly Perth, would be the next target markets for possible acquisitions. He said they are hoping to execute the next acquisition in financial year 2027.
While the majority of deals are made through word of mouth, the founder said there are also certain attributes an attractive company must possess for a possible acquisition.
"It has to have strong fundamentals that are going to continue our growth," Reilly explained. "We're not necessarily interested in a company where the key people are retiring, or are looking for a succession plan. We're looking for businesses where it will help us grow outside of just the fact that we've purchased more revenue. In Adelaide, for example, we've got a good broker on the ground there who wants to continue to write. So that adds a really quality writer to our sales team and obviously the upside of the opportunity to continue to work with the real estate group and provide leads."
The Inovayt deal underscores the rapid growth of Australia’s M&A market, increasingly fueled by consolidation.
Global M&A deal volume reached approximately $7.46 trillion AUD, (or $4.81 trillion USD), in 2025, up from $5.27 trillion AUD, (or $3.4 trillion USD), the previous year, according to MergerMarket data. That's an increase of nearly 42%. In the first half of 2025, Australian M&A deal volume surged to $98.1 billion AUD (or $63.3 billion USD), nearly doubling the $49.3 billion AUD (or $31.8 billion USD) recorded in the same period of 2024.
Examples can be seen throughout the market. In September, Australian private equity firm Recludo Group, which works by purchasing mortgage brokerages, revealed that it had snapped up three firms since the start of the year. The same month, Aussie alternative asset manager Salter Brothers agreed to buy private credit fund manager Causeway Asset Management Limited.
On the lender side, Queensland-based mutual Royal Automobile Club of Queensland (RACQ) sold its retail lending and deposit business to Bendigo Bank in December for an undisclosed amount. Bank Australia wrapped up its second acquisition of 2025 in November, this time with Australian Unity Bank. The lender also completed a merger with Qudos Bank in July. This past April, Regional Australia Bank and Summerland Bank formally agreed to merge their operations by 2026. In September, customer-owned banks Great Southern Bank and P&N Group (Police and Nurses Limited), signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to discuss a potential merger. There's also Auswide Bank and MyState Bank Limited, G&C Mutual Bank and Unity Bank, Teachers Mutual Bank Limited and Australian Mutual Bank Limited, and People's Choice and Heritage Bank.
This story has been updated from its original version.
