Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance (STB CF), a leading UK asset-based lending (ABL) provider, has provided over £214.8m worth of facilities across ten deals in 2023.
As the market slowed in the first six months of 2023, many lenders experienced a protracted deal completion process.
Despite this, deal activity was significantly higher in the second half of the year, with the STB CF team completing eight deals. Notably, the team increased its total deal value in 2023, rising by 36.8 per cent from £157m in 2022.
Collaboration with private equity also remained a priority for the STB CF team in 2023. Of the deals completed, seven involved the team providing a facility alongside private equity to support the acquisition of a business.
Deals completed in 2023 include STB CF’s largest deal to date, providing a multi-million-pound facility to support private equity investor Chiltern Capital’s acquisition of Batt Cables, one of Europe’s leading distributors of electrical cables. The firm also recently provided facilities to high-street staples, including No Ordinary Designer Label Limited (NODL), the retail operator of Ted Baker, and Ann Summers.
2023 also saw STB CF sign a ten-year lease for a new office in Manchester, located at 44 Peter Street. Having established a presence in the city in 2014, the new office will allow the specialist lender to continue supporting business both across the North West, as well as nationally.
With a strong pipeline of deal activity in 2024, STB CF has also continued to invest in its team, including the recent appointment of Will Duxbury as Portfolio and Structuring Director.
Sean Powell, national sales director at Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance, said: “This has been another strong year for the Secure Trust Bank Commercial Finance team and I am incredibly proud of what we have been able to achieve.
“Despite facing a slower start to the year and operating in a difficult economic environment where many businesses struggled, we’ve made strong progress over the last few months in supporting leading businesses across the UK.
“It’s particularly impressive to see how many deals have been completed alongside private equity over the last year, showing the ability of ABL and PE to work in tandem to enhance flexibility and pool knowledge.
“Given the ramp up in activity towards the end of the year, we anticipate the market will continue to stabilise in 2024, and we’re poised to continue supporting ambitious management teams and private equity investors to unlock growth across the economy.”
