Elliott Advisors, the feared activist investment fund, has agreed a £350m swoop on Enra Group, a specialist UK provider of mortgage finance.

Sky News understands that Elliott, which was founded by Paul Singer, one of Wall Street’s most prominent figures, is close to announcing the acquisition of the Watford-based company.

Enra was put up for sale last year by Exponent Private Equity, its backer since 2016.

The company, which is run by chief executive Danny Waters, provides a range of financing products to homeowners as well as professional property investors, developers and landlords.

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Elliott’s purchase of Enra marks its latest stride into direct investing in the UK.

It already owns prominent businesses such as Waterstones, the chain of bookstores which this week confirmed a report by Sky News that it was buying Blackwell’s, the smaller academic specialist.

Elliott is better-known for its campaigns to force through major changes at large public companies.

In Britain, it has targeted corporate giants such as GlaxoSmithKline, Taylor Wimpey and SSE in recent months, with limited success.

Previous efforts have been made to win seats on the board of companies such as Hammerson, the shopping centre giant.

Exponent declined to comment, while Elliott did not respond to a request for comment.

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