N Brown secures £100m refinancing

MANCHESTER-based home shopping company N Brown has secured a £100m refinancing with banking partners Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC.

The new funding will help support the business with its future growth plans, both in the UK and overseas.  N Brown’s stable of brands includes JD Williams, Simply Be, Figleaves, Jacamo and High & Mighty.

The refinancing consists of a new £50m, four year loan from the company’s clearing bank, HSBC and a £50m revolving credit facility provided by RBS – the latter said N Brown had been a client since the 1980s.

N Brown finance director Dean Moore said: “We have seen good growth in our multi-channel home shopping business in recent years and we are looking for further opportunities in 2012 and beyond.

“The refinance puts us in a great position to take the business forward and we are thrilled to continue to work with the team at HSBC, which has provided us with such strong support.

He added: “RBS has enabled us to achieve our stated goals and objectives and as a long standing customer we view RBS as a key business partner for the foreseeable future.”

Alan Rigby, HSBC’s North West head of corporate banking, said: “N Brown Group is an example of a business that has remained strong, despite operating within the highly competitive retail sector.”

Steve Lewis, regional director of RBS Corporate & Institutional Banking, added: “We are delighted to have refinanced N Brown’s existing facilities to meet the needs of its growing multi-channel retail business.  

“This is very much in line with our strategy to support quality businesses with a proven and highly effective management team.”