Finance company Thorn Financial Services, whose brands include dtr and Thorn, is merging with Limelight Software, which provides vehicle dealership management software under the Motorcentral, Need A Car and BuyerScore brands, to form Limelight Group.
Limelight Group will provide integrated software, finance and finance-associated services both directly to customers and via the Limelight Software car dealer channel.
The merging companies say Limelight Group will be among the biggest 10 New Zealand vehicle finance companies by lending, competing with the likes of Heartland Bank's MARAC, UDC Finance, Toyota Financial Services, Auto Finance Direct, Avanti Finance, BMW Financial Services, Community Financial Services, European Financial Services, Finance Now, Geneva Finance, Go Car Finance, Instant Finance, Motor Trade Finance, and Oxford Finance.
In a statement Thorn and Limelight say they've worked together since 2018, with Thorn's parent company Fox Group holding a minority stake in Limelight Software.
Motorcentral provides dealership management system software used by some 600 NZ car dealerships, and manages more than $2.5 billion worth of vehicle sales each year. Thorn has assets of $200 million and offers vehicle finance and debt consolidation. Dtr offers personal loans and debt consolidation.
The companies say the merger will create an integrated fintech company, embedding financial services in dealer management software to provide "a native digital financing option" for dealers and customers. The merger kicks-in on April 1, with Mark Spring, currently CEO of Thorn Financial Services, to be CEO of Limelight Group.
“Our two organisations have cooperated effectively since 2018 and grown our vehicle finance business by more than 60% year-on-year by responding rapidly to emerging opportunities in a fragmented market,” Spring says.
“Having seen the growth we have achieved to date as partners with a minority shareholding, we know we can grow the opportunity exponentially as a single entity. As a single fintech we will now have full alignment which, coupled with our combined resources, and proven agility, will allow us to grow even more aggressively.”
“We see it as our responsibility to disrupt it, removing the things that slow it down and make it irritating or stressful – the friction – and increasing its overall value for both dealers and consumers," says Spring.
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