Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending hits £200m lending milestone

Arbuthnot Commercial Asset Based Lending (“ABL”) hit a significant milestone in its growth, after it passed £200m of lending since the business was launched just 28 months ago.

New facilities written in the third quarter of 2020 totalled £40m, increasing the available book limits within the client portfolio to over £200m, spread across 25 different sectors.

Arbuthnot Commercial ABL is seeing an increasing number of opportunities arising from private equity sponsors due to strategic corporate divestments and the impact of the pandemic on businesses with otherwise sound operating models coming to market.

Having recently completed its fourth corporate carve-out transaction to date, it is anticipated that there will be more on the horizon as large groups focus on core activities, while strengthening their balance sheets, fuelling M&A activity as newly independent businesses ‘spin out’.

Manufacturers are continuing to drive ahead with both planned and opportunistic buy-and-build strategies, making synergistic bolt-on acquisitions. Refinancing of clearing bank facilities has also emerged as a prevailing theme over the past six months as businesses seek out a higher level of headroom, flexibility and support.

Following the accreditation of the Bank by the British Business Bank in June, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL has written CBILs loans totalling £11.5m, providing additional contingency headroom as businesses look to emerge strongly from the pandemic.

Tim Hawkins, managing director, Arbuthnot Commercial ABL, said: “We are delighted to have reached this key milestone ahead of schedule. What’s particularly exciting is that this is just the start for Arbuthnot Commercial ABL. Our aim has always been to build long-term relationships with our clients, supporting their objectives throughout the business and economic cycle. This has never been more important to our clients than now as they navigate the next stage in their business journeys. We are very fortunate to be part of Arbuthnot Latham, a private and commercial bank which has a robust balance sheet and plenty of liquidity. This has enabled us to continue to grow our own book by supporting our existing clients’ working capital needs in the short and long term, while arranging new facilities for our future clients. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our valued clients, loyal introducer network and our exceptional team. We really couldn’t have done it without you.”