BNP Paribas Asset Management and Caple complete first SME loan in the Netherlands
BNP Paribas Asset Management (‘BNPP AM’) and strategic origination partner Caple have completed a €700,000 eight year unsecured loan transaction for Elmet B.V. (‘Elmet’) of Papendrecht in the western Netherlands.
Elmet is a specialist wholesaler of electrical components to sectors including offshore marine, petrochemicals and infrastructure. The loan supports a consolidation of the shareholder structure and future growth of the business.
The loan was made through BNPP AM’s SME alternative financing platform, which works closely with origination partners such as Caple. The platform completed its first transaction in May last year, and the loan to Elmet is its first in the Netherlands, a key market alongside the UK. BNPP AM is targeting €1bn of direct lending annually to European SMEs.
International SME alternative credit specialist Caple has so far completed deals of approximately £10m in the UK. With a strong pipeline of loans, Caple expects to build on this through the course of 2019 in the UK and the Netherlands.
Kees Kooiman, managing director of Elmet, comments:
“Working with our advisers, Caple was able to quickly secure the financing that we were looking for to fund the share transaction and the growth of our business. The transaction would have been more difficult to fund with less flexibility for the business had we applied for a business loan from a more traditional funding source.”
Stéphane Blanchoz, head of SME Alternative Financing at BNP Paribas Asset Management, comments:
“The way in which European SMEs borrow to finance their development is changing, creating opportunities for non-traditional lenders such as ourselves. Through our SME Alternative Financing platform we are able to offer access to funding that is quicker and more flexible that has previously been the case. We are very ambitious in this area and the loan to Elmet is a key milestone in the development of the platform in continental Europe.”
Michiel Slinkert, founder and managing partner at Caple, comments:
“In common with their UK counterparts, Dutch SMEs are increasingly looking to alternative lenders for long term unsecured credit to fund growth, leading to strong demand and growing origination volumes. Through our strategic partnership with BNP Paribas Asset Management, we are very pleased to have been able to help Elmet by facilitating this loan. A shareholder consolidation combined with a growth strategy became possible, which is not typically the case with traditional lending.”
Elmet was advised by Financieringsgilde Adviesgroep, who acted as financial/debt advisor to the company in this transaction. Financieringsgilde Adviesgroep is a member of Caple’s partner network in the Netherlands, through which loans are originated.
