NOVEMBER 2004

Capital One Purchases
UK Home Equity Loan Broker

Enhancing its existing presence in the U.K., Capital One Financial Corp (McLean, VA) announced that it was purchasing HFS Group, a British home equity loan broker. The acquisition is intended to enhance its existing U.K. home lending operations which provide direct marketing leads to lenders offering second and third mortgages. HFS originated 15,000 loans worth $630 million during the 12 month ending in March 2004. Paul Naden, leader of HFS Group's senior management team, told the American Banker that the deal "allows us to realize a myriad of benefits, such as Capital One's direct marketing expertise." Richard Fairbank, CEO of Capital One said in a press release that the deal was consistent with his company's strategy of "carefully targeted acquisitions that provide new product lines, build on our successful consumer-lending platforms, and create value for our shareholders." Capital One is no stranger to the U.K. financial services market: it has about 4 million U.K. customers and is one of the country's largest credit card issuers.