Aggregator merger confirmed

Parties involved in the much rumoured "Wonderland" aggregator consolidation yesterday confirmed that they have signed an agreement in principle to merge.

The three aggregators are The Mortgage Professionals, National Brokers Group and The Brokerage. Macquarie Bank, which was adviser to the group, will take a minority shareholding.

The proposed chief executive, Jeff Zulman, said the merged group would have $16 billion of loans under management and would service more than 900 brokers.

Zulman said the new group would rank third in the aggregator market behind AFG and National Australia Bank's third-party mortgage business.

Zulman confirmed that other aggregators had been involved in the discussions and said it was possible that others would get involved.

Zulman has been in Australia for 15 years, after careers in law and investment banking (he is ex-Goldman Sachs) in the United Kingdom and the United States.

His work in Australia has included direct marketing and corporate advice (M&A). His most recent role was head of an IT company, Beacon IT.

He said the yet-to-be-named aggregator group would be operational in the next few months.