The company that rose from the ashes of legal lender Key Business Finance (KBF), which collapsed amid the 2008 banking crisis, has been taken over by financial services mutual Wesleyan.

KBF supplied nearly 15% of law firms in England and Wales with short-term loans before it fell into administration in October 2008.

Former KBF executives set up Key Business Professions (KBP) in early 2009, offering a similar service based on what they said was a more robust funding model.

Wesleyan chief executive Craig Errington said that the acquisition of KBP will allow Wesleyan to develop its links with lawyers across the country, in tandem with the rollout of its own brand of lawyer loans which began earlier this year.