Multimillion-pound transactions feed growing appetite for funding requirements
Manchester funder Praetura Commercial Finance has provided more than £18.5m of funding to help two Northern SMEs grow.
In its first deals of the year, Praetura initially supported West Yorkshire logistics and warehousing group OTIF on its £12.5m acquisition of John Truswell & Sons, a family-owned distribution business based in Barnsley, in a deal that marked OTIF’s third acquisition in five years.
Owned and operated by entrepreneur Graham Darnell the acquisition enables OTIF to strengthen its distribution network.
Praetura Commercial Finance’s team was instrumental in negotiating the deal, and a team from Praetura Asset Finance helped to create a more flexible mix of funding facilities that met the business’s goals.
PMD Business Finance, Praetura’s long term broker, introduced and managed the deal.
The second deal of the year saw the Praetura team provide a £6m growth finance facility to an innovative supplier of allergy-sensitive goods, which supplies a range of the UK’s biggest names in retail and grocery.
Stuart Bates, founder and commercial director of Praetura Commercial Finance, said: “Over the last six months, Praetura has witnessed a substantial increase in the number of funding applications submitted as UK entrepreneurs look to rebuild and grow after the pandemic.”
Parties who helped facilitate the deal included Teneo Advisory, Bermans, Squires, Kay Johnson Gee, and Tallon Valuers.
Meanwhile, NPIF-Maven Equity Finance, managed by Maven Capital Partners, and part of the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund (NPIF) revealed it has invested a total of £17m in 14 high growth businesses in 2021.
It also successfully leveraged an additional £34m in private sector finance for local businesses creating 402 jobs last year alone.
Among the companies to receive investment were eSales Hub, a technology business analysing big data using AI, Blueberry Therapeutics, a drug discovery and development company focused on developing innovative nanomedicines for difficult to treat skin and nail infections, and Membr, a fitness-focused management software platform.
Maven also achieved a number of successful exits for NPIF including the sale of disruptive mortgage broker Mojo Mortgages to RVU, part of the Zoopla Property Group owned by the US private equity firm Silverlake.
Appointed by the British Business Bank in February 2017, Maven manages £96m-worth of equity finance after being allocated an additional £15m to invest in businesses until the end of 2023 for the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund.
Ryan Bevington, investment partner of Maven Capital Partners, said 2021 was the fund’s most successful year to date, adding: “It’s a testament to the continued need for this type of finance. 2021 was really busy for our local team across the North West and the additional funding allocation will be instrumental in fueling the growth of more ambitious businesses across the region.”
Specialist marketplace lender Assetz Capital has also been busy early in 2021, delivering three bridging loans totalling £1m, enabling an SME property investor to conclude three purchases of property in London.
Laleta Buctkuar
Specialising in hospitality, the borrower had its core business disrupted by COVID-19, so took the opportunity to pivot its strategy and invest in smaller property projects. After identifying three properties in London, the borrower’s intermediary partner, Amram Finance, connected the investor to Manchester-based Assetz Capital, which provided the short term finance to complete the transactions quickly.
Laleta Buctkuar, relationship director at Assetz Capital, said: “Our residential bridging offering is proving popular for borrowers looking at short term requirements such as purchases, re-mortgages, and development-exit.”
