Engineering firm in £11m debt refinancing deal
Van Elle, the Nottinghamshire piling firm, has agreed an £11m refinancing deal.
The ground engineering contractor has agreed with ABN AMRO Commercial Finance for up to £11m of asset-based lending facilities.
The funds are provided on a revolving basis over four years.
The new Facilities, which shall be undrawn on completion, provide additional balance sheet strength to enable the group to support growth and provides greater flexibility for future capital expenditure requirements.
The group’s cash position at the end of September was around £11.5m and the remaining debt under hire purchase agreements is £5.7m.
The company said: “With net funds (excluding IFRS 16 property lease liabilities) of c.£5.8m, the group is well-positioned to face any short-term market challenges.”
As part of the refinancing, the existing overdraft facility with Lloyds Banking Group of £2.5m has been terminated.
Last month the group, which slipped into the red after the impact of the Covid-19 lockdown, said that operations have “continued to improve”.
Van Elle said revenue in August was approximately 80% of normal pre-Covid levels, with further progress in all the group’s end markets except rail, which the company expects to show improvement in the second half of the year.
