Tenancy referencing business Barbon Insurance Group is being sold to a huge global asset management firm.

The Carlyle Group, which employs more than 1,650 people in 40 offices across six continents, has agreed to acquire a majority stake in Barbon, whose brands are HomeLet, Letsure and Rentshield,

The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of this year, subject to customary closing requirements and regulatory approvals.

Martin Totty, CEO of Barbon Insurance Group, said: “We are delighted to partner with the Carlyle Group, which has a strong track record of investing in growth companies.

“Their in-depth knowledge of the insurance sector, built over many years, will significantly contribute to the continuing development of our business.”

Olivier Sarkozy, managing director at Carlyle, said: “With demand for private rental accommodation in the UK expected to continue to increase, we believe our future partnership is well placed to capitalise on the expected trend in the market.

“We are excited about the opportunity to support the management team and to help them grow the business.”

Three years ago, HomeLet became the focus of an investigation by the Financial Services Authority because of concerns that, through HomeLet’s network of 3,000 agents, tenants were wrongly sold insurance as a condition of their tenancy agreement.