Six months prior to the beginning of the now infamous credit crisis, in February 2007, Homeloans Limited agreed a placement of 8.3 million shares at 80 cents each to Challenger Financial Services, and an application (later approved) of an additional 31.7 million shares at $1.20 to increase the Challenger stake in Homeloans to around 40 per cent.A media statement at the time said the investment would considerably strengthen the balance sheet by approximately $44.7 million, before costs, "to allow it (Homeloans) to maximise the rationalisation opportunities".Fast forward to the present day, and it appears the money has been largely untouched, even though rationalisation opportunities have been abundant."We are on a really strong watching brief (for acquisitions), but we are still nervous around what is out there," said Brian Jones, managing director of Homeloans.Homeloans cash on hand and at bank in the FY08 financial statements stands at $45.4 million, up from $1.7 million in the previous corresponding period, yet based on the sale of the scarcely traded shares, Homeloans has a market capitalisation of around $40 million."Up until a year ago we had well defined views of where this (i.e. Homeloans using the cash) may head, but this has changed."It's becoming harder to assess the value of acquisitions, it's more about how you capitalise on a market that has changed - and what is available in the market for consolidation that you can bring into your own business model or strategy."The sort of targets we would be looking at belong to a market in mortgage management, broking or aggregation."A year ago we were more willing to take an EBIT based view. Given the changes, now we more look at what occurs in revenue streams and how they hold together."Jones envisages mortgage management acquisitions within the next year will help grow Homeloans revenue, although he adds originating their own lending products is still financially more attractive. He sees origination in the short term as continuing to struggle."Our aspiration is to develop the managed side of the business, ideally in the short and medium term. "An increase in management revenue will be somewhat driven by acquisition; we have acquisitive aspirations."