Money Advice secures £10m funding line

MANCHESTER-based debt management firm Money Advice Group has secured a £10m asset-based lending facility from PNC Business Credit – the US-headquartered lender which took on Belgian bank KBC’s asset lending business in the UK two years ago.

Money Advice said the funds will be used to increase its working capital and provide finance for acquisitions.

It currently has a turnover of £15m and around 28,000 clients on its books and said that following the financing deal it expects to increase this by a third. It also said that a tightening of the rules governing debt management and advisory firms in March by the Office of Fair Trading is likely to cause many competitors either to leave the sector or to be shut down.

The firm currently employs 285 people and is taking on an extra 3,500 sq ft of space at its headquarters at Carrington Business Park.

Managing director Simon Brown said: “With the introduction of more stringent compliance guidelines than our industry has ever witnessed, we spotted an opportunity in the market.

“We are extremely proud of our compliant culture but the costs associated with becoming compliant are too excessive for some of the smaller players, so what we find is they want to exit altogether or just sell on some of their books or assets.

“We trialed this approach last year with the successful acquisition of a smaller company, and it was from this we saw a clear direction for Money Advice Group.

Mark Shackleton of PNC Business Credit said: “Money Advice Group has the infrastructure, industry knowledge and experience to facilitate steady growth through acquisition.

“There is a clear strategy to grow the business and we are pleased to be adding Money Advice Group to our growing portfolio of clients.”

Money Advice Group was advised on the financing by Daresbury-based corporate finance firm Dow Schofield Watts.