Arbuthnot Commercial ABL supports leading specialist forklift truck manufacturer
Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending Ltd. (“Arbuthnot Commercial ABL”) is pleased to announce that it has secured a £10m asset based lending facility with V.N.A. Trucks Group (“V.N.A.”), the leading specialist forklift truck manufacturer, to support its future growth aspirations.
The management transition sees the acquisition of the controlling shareholding by the current management team and facilitates the retirement of the two founder shareholders. John Maguire, previously the commercial director, steps up to the MD role to lead the transaction and Donald Houston, will join the team as group finance director.
Following a competitive process, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL was selected ahead of a series of lenders due to the flexible structure of its offering and its ability to support the transaction in a timely manner. As well as funding the initial transition, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL will provide on-going working capital to V.N.A., allowing it to further capitalise upon ever-rising demand in the US and wider global markets.
Headquartered in Tipton, West Midlands and OEM Manufacturing in Taiwan, V.N.A. Trucks is a leading specialist forklift truck manufacturer, with products suited to confined and very narrow warehouse operations. The business comprises two separate operating companies, Narrow Aisle Limited (NAL), which sells trucks, spares and maintenance services and Flexi Forklift Rental Limited (FFRL), which provides short and long-term rental of Flexi trucks and masts.
Andrew Rutherford, commercial director, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, said:
“This transaction is all about the underlying strength of a well-founded and well-funded Group. On the one hand, there is the solid foundation of a long-established, profitable, asset-rich British manufacturer and exporter. On the other, our team has the ability to deliver the structure, speed and certainty that event-driven transactions such as this demand. We look forward to working alongside John Maguire and his team to fuel the further expansion of the Group as they drive further success in a buoyant global materials handling market.”
John Maguire, managing director of V.N.A. Trucks Limited, commented:
“We have developed a great relationship with Arbuthnot Commercial ABL. Their team demonstrated a real interest in what we do and looked to gain a close understanding of our business, prior to unlocking our assets to provide a robust funding structure. The transaction was well ordered and went very smoothly with no last-minute hurdles. The momentum in our sector is very positive as countries develop intralogistics structures around the world and this deal is an important step in allowing us to maximise our potential in delivering our business plans.”
A Quantuma team, led by partner Mark Lucas and director Fardeen Nariman, advised on the deal.
