Lamp lights up Thincats with largest ever P2P loan
EUROPE’S largest ever non-property peer-to-peer loan has been listed on the Staffordshire-based ThinCats platform.
The £3.5m loan to insurance group LAMP is a new landmark for the peer-to-peer (P2P) lender, which competes with banks as a source of funds for businesses and consumers. The sector is growing in popularity, with more than £2.2bn allocated in 2015, equalling in one year the total lent in the decade that preceded it.
Sussex-based LAMP Group, which specialises in the healthcare and legal sectors, will use the money to consolidate existing debts and cover costs as it prepares for a round of equity fundraising. It is one of the largest established businesses to ever raise money through peer-to-peer lending, having grown its initial capital of £5m at incorporation in 2005 to net assets of £24.5m (audited at March 31, 2015).
Tamworth-based Thincats, which facilitated the loan, was founded in 2010 and was recently acquired by peer-to-peer accelerator ESF Capital. Prospective investors are able to participate in the auction, with ESF underwriting the loan to ensure that bids meet the £3.5m requisite.
Capital Engine structured the loan for ThinCats and has invested half of its arrangement fees into the loan on the same terms as other ThinCats lenders.
John Mould, CEO of ThinCats, said: “LAMP is a well-established business with a significant market presence. This shows that P2P lending in general – and ThinCats in particular – is beginning to vie with traditional lenders as a mainstream provider of capital to increasingly large companies.
“We expect to see an upward trend in both the size and variety of deals as more businesses discover the benefits of financing through P2P lending.”
Christopher Rothschild of Capital Engine, added: “This transaction shows that ThinCats is maturing into a marketplace where established businesses can raise structured term debt on attractive terms.
“We are keen to identify more good borrowers and make further inroads in the underserved SME loan market by structuring loans which enable borrowers to achieve their aims while also offering good yield investments to lenders.”
