Recludo Group has partnered up once again.
This time the Australian private equity firm — which works by partnering with firms in the broking space to help them scale — has purchased a 51% stake in mortgage manager Thry Group for approximately $500,000.
The newly-reformed Thry, which used to operate under a franchise model, sells white label products to mortgage brokers and clients directly. Lisa Zhang, founder and chief executive officer of Thry, reformed the company last spring.
Tim Brown, chief executive officer of Recludo (and pictured above center), said the deal was a no-brainer.
"If we find the right people, then we're happy to invest," Brown told Australian Broker.
"We always look for the right leaders," the CEO explained. "So people in businesses who are motivated, energetic, but they don't have the necessary expertise or capital. We bring that into play, because we've got a number of very experienced resources. In the case of Lisa, she's been in the industry for 10 years."
Zhang added: “Partnering with Recludo gives Thry the operational backing and national reach to scale [our] offering, while staying firmly focused on brokers and their clients.”
Brown said that Recludo also tends to gravitate towards mid-tier companies that have loan books between $300 million and $400 million.
"Thry's a little bit short of that; They're at $200 million at the moment," Brown said. "But because we know that they've got a phenomenal growth opportunity we invested. We believe that they'll be at $300 million to $400 million within 12 months.
"The plan [with acquiring firms] is usually five years out," he added. "It's really about creating value. We're not looking to sell these businesses; we're looking to grow the value of these businesses over time and we want exponential growth. So we tend to try and help them with removing all of the non-productive or administrative tasks out of the business."
Aside from allowing Melbourne-based Thry to grow, it's also the eighth firm Recludo has acquired since the firm's inception in 2024. Sydney-headquartered Recludo, which now manages a $3.2 billion residential loan book, was founded by Brown, alongside Ash Playsted, Tom Roche and Jon Corney.
The firm has previously laid out plans to invest in between 40 to 50 brokerages in the next five years. That equals about 10 more deals in 2026 alone.
"We just see this as a growing area," Brown said. "Even with AI, we feel that the client relationship with the broker is going to continue. AI will help remove a lot of the non-productive stuff so that they continue to build revenue. So we see this as a massive opportunity in an industry that's probably reached its pinnacle in the sense of its growth."
Outside of Recludo, deal-making across Australia continues to run hot with no signs of cooling anytime soon.
"It's ripe for consolidation and investments," Brown said. "A lot of that is because of the increase in administration and governance and compliance. Smaller firms just can't justify the costs anymore. So they need to scale."
