Bristol lawyers work on £800m funding deal
Lawyers at Osborne Clarke in Bristol have advised Abound, the consumer arm of Fintern, one of the UK’s fastest growing fintechs, on its latest £800m financing round.
The fundraising – which brings the total raised by Abound to £1.3 bn – is one of the largest so far in Europe this year.
It is a mixture of debt and equity, including a multi-year asset backed debt financing arrangement from existing financier Citi and a Series B equity round component led by Silicon Valley-based GSR Ventures.
Abound will use the new funding to expand into prime lending in the UK, and to roll-out Render, its proprietary AI credit technology platform, globally.
Abound is leading the use of Open Banking and AI in consumer credit decisioning. Its AI technology, Render, scans customers’ bank transaction data to understand each person’s unique financial situation and determine how much they can afford to repay each month. Abound’s mission is to drive financial inclusion by changing the way that credit decisions are made so that more people can access loans at rates they can afford to repay.
The cross-service line Osborne Clarke team assisting Fintern was led by Bristol-based partners Tom Bussy and James Taylor with senior associates Joe Roberts and Adam Turner, and associates David Morgan and Olivier Jacquelin from the firm’s corporate and banking and finance teams, all of whom are also based in the firm’s Bristol office.
The fundraising marks the latest chapter in Osborne Clarke’s and Abound’s long-term relationship, with the Osborne Clarke team having also advised on Abound’s £500 million funding round last year.
Osborne Clarke’s international financial services sector team advises clients ranging from start-ups, scale-ups/growth businesses and FinTech unicorns to challenger banks, payments, retail and consumer finance, platforms, large corporates and institutions as well as lenders, investors and industry bodies and regulators.
Osborne Clarke’s international venture capital team is also a go-to practice for companies operating in tech-enabled industries for their entire growth journey. Its dedicated resource centre, OC Ventures, brings together experts from across our international network to deliver a holistic seamless service to clients throughout the ventures ecosystem.
