REA Group and Simplicity Loans & Advisory are the latest firms in Australia's mortgage market to consolidate.
REA Group — parent company to Mortgage Choice, Athena Home Loans and data services firm PropTrack, as well as real estate platforms realestate.com.au, flatmates.com.au, and property.com.au, among others — revealed Tuesday that it has agreed to acquire an initial 70% interest in the boutique commercial finance brokerage, for an undisclosed amount. The remaining 30% of Simplicity will be acquired by the end of the 2029 calendar year.
The company declined to comment on the terms of the transaction. But the move allows REA Group to strengthen its position in Australia's growing lending market by expanding into the commercial space.
"The volume of commercial loans settled by brokers in Australia has increased significantly in recent years," said Anthony Waldron, REA Group chief executive officer of financial services and chief executive officer of Mortgage Choice. "By extending beyond residential lending into the fast-growing commercial lending market, we will accelerate our commercial finance strategy while adding new capabilities and revenue streams.
"We believe the proposed acquisition will create exciting opportunities for our Mortgage Choice brokers, with many of their clients already small- and medium-[sized] business owners, or commercial property investors," he continued. "It will strengthen our ability to offer tailored services across both residential and commercial property loans, supporting more Australians with the funding solutions they need.
"Simplicity is a great business and has achieved impressive organic growth," Waldron added. "We see significant opportunities for integration and future growth by connecting Simplicity with Mortgage Choice and more broadly across the group. I’m looking forward to working closely with the Simplicity team as we continue to innovate our financial services offering and deliver more choice and flexibility for our brokers and their clients."
Jean-Pierre Gortan, Simplicity cofounder and managing director, added: “We’ve built our business by helping clients navigate complex transactions with confidence. Partnering with REA gives us the scale, reach and technology to accelerate nationally and cement Simplicity as the most trusted commercial broker in Australia.”
Matthew Johnson, cofounder and managing director at Simplicity, added: “REA is the natural fit for us with many of our existing clients in the property and construction sector. We look forward to working closely with Anthony and the REA team to drive Simplicity’s future growth.”
Simplicity, which was founded by Gortan and Johnson in 2017, specializes in commercial lending. The Sydney-based firm also has offices in Melbourne and Brisbane, and operates a broker referral marketplace dubbed Marketplace Finance, where Simplicity brokers can gather leads, as well as access workflow tools.
Following the transaction, Simplicity will continue to run under its current brand and structure, led by Gortan and Johnson.
Deal-making across Australia continues to run hot, and shows no signs of cooling, as firms consolidate, either out of necessity or to grow faster.
In 2025, global M&A deal volumes reached roughly $7.46 trillion AUD, (or $4.81 trillion USD), up from $5.27 trillion AUD, (or $3.4 trillion USD), the year before, according to MergerMarket data. That's an increase of nearly 42%. And the Australian market, while smaller, still kept pace.
That same year, publicly-announced deals to buy or merge with companies that are based in Australia reached $143.8 billion AUD (or $92.8 billion USD), according to Dealogic.
"It's still happening; consolidation is still escalating across the industry," Chris Slater, head of strategic growth at Australian private equity firm Recludo Group, told Australian Broker. His firm works by partnering with sole-trader brokerages to help them scale and eventually resell.
"The industry is incredibly mature," Slater continued. "The only way it will slow down is if there's less demand. But right now there's lots of different entities buying up firms. So there's plenty of opportunity around."
Just a day earlier than the REA-Simplicity tie-up was announced, Australian investment manager Challenger Limited revealed it was in advanced talks to acquire a 25% share in non-bank lender Pepper Money. Also this month, Teachers Mutual and Australian Mutual banks are voting to solidify their merger.
Last year, Bank Australia acquired both Australian Unity Bank and Qudos Bank, in November and July, respectively, while 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. Aussie alternative asset manager Salter Brothers agreed to buy private credit fund manager Causeway Asset Management Limited. 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.
Brokerages are consolidating too. Flint Group merged with Brisbane-based brokerage FPW Group in December, rebranding as Flint Queensland, and marking Sydney-based Flint's second merger of 2025. In May, Flint merged with Brokerage & Co. in Adelaide. Melbourne-based brokerage and advice business Inovayt acquired South Australian Fresh Home Loans.
