Supporting Nova Capital Management’s acquisition of Shakespeare Monofilamen
Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending (ACABL) has provided an inaugural £5.92m ABL facility to Shakespeare Monofilament UK Ltd (Shakespeare). The facility comprises a £2.5m Confidential Invoice Discounting line, a £1.5m Inventory Revolver, £222k for Plant and Machinery, and a £1.7m Property Term Loan.
The deal was delivered to support Nova Capital Management’s acquisition of both Shakespeare Company LLC and Shakespeare Monofilament UK.
Based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, Shakespeare was founded in 1897 and has built a long-established reputation as a manufacturer of engineered materials. The business operates across three core product lines: Performance Monofilaments, Engineered Nylons and Conductive Fibres, and Polymers and Filaments. Its technologies support a wide range of applications, spanning healthcare, automotive, and military, through to marine electronics, and everyday consumer products.
This marks ACABL’s first transaction with Nova, a private equity firm based in London and Chicago specialising in complex carve-out transactions. Nova has completed over 75 investments, with a combined deal value of £1.5bn.
Completed in 2025, the new facility provides significant headroom and positions Shakespeare for its next phase of growth.
Barnaby Hodgson, Investment Manager, Nova Capital Management, said: “This was a complex international transaction where we were buying a US business with a UK subsidiary. There were a lot of moving parts and more than one lender involved when looking at the overall transaction. The Arbuthnot team was very patient and attentive, which made all the difference during the deal process. We have been very impressed indeed.
Shakespeare Monofilament UK Ltd is an exciting business with superb growth potential. We have found a great partner in Arbuthnot. It can be quite daunting for a business to be working with an ABL facility for the first time. The investment Arbuthnot has put into helping the team at Shakespeare to master and make full use of the new facility has been inspiring. We definitely picked the right ABL partner and look forward to working with them again.”
Joe Taviner, director, business development, Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending Limited, said: “This was our first deal for Nova. It was an intricate process where we not only worked closely with the Nova team, but also the US lender supporting the acquisition of the US business. Yet again, we have been able to demonstrate how we stand out by delivering the insight and flexibility that are crucial in getting complex transactions completed well. We look forward to supporting Nova as they unlock Shakespeare’s true potential.”