WORCESTER-based doorstep lender Morses Club Ltd is to merge with another credit business after an acquisition by its owners Rcapital. The London based private investment company has bought Shopacheck Financial Services, the home collected credit business, from Welcome Financial Services Limited.

The new deal will see SFS merge with Rcapital's existing home collected credit business, Morses Club Limited, which has its headquarters at Hallow, building on the best from both organisations. The revenue of the newly formed business is expected to be in the region of £80M.

Birstall-based SFS is currently the number two in the UK home collected credit market, behind Provident Financial plc. Combining MCL, currently ranked at number four, with SFS will form a new business with more than 500 employees and 2,100 agents, creating the largest independent home collected credit business in the UK. Its combined work force and products will bolster its loan offering to customers and communities nationally.

Rcapital's chief executive Jamie Constable said: "MCL has a reputation as 'best of breed' in the industry and our intention is to merge the two businesses, building on the strengths of both companies. This new deal is a big step forward and will firm up the future direction of the SFS business. Since Rcapital invested in MCL, it has become one of the strongest and most profitable businesses in its sector. Our intention is to develop the newly combined business to the same level.”