AnaCap Financial Partners continues to snap up financial services assets, having Monday agreed to a £70 million (€81 million; $115 million) deal to buy Cattles Invoice Finance (CIF).
CIF’s parent, UK subprime lender Cattles, said the deal’s proceeds will be used to repay bank loans, some of which are in breach.
Cattles said the transaction comprises a cash consideration of £10.4 million – which is roughly equal to the expected net asset value of CIF at the time of the deal’s likely completion – plus repayment of intercompany loans valued at about £59.6 million.
Subject to shareholder approval, the deal is expected to close in roughly five weeks and will mark the firm’s third investment since closing its €575 million Fund II in June.
The UK’s CIF provides invoice financing services to SMEs, advancing against more than $1 billion-worth of invoices annually, AnaCap said in a statement.
AnaCap said it “sees a significant opportunity to provide much-needed funding to UK SMEs, supported by a substantially enlarged funding line that will help widen the range of options available to SMEs across the country”. The company’s future funding will be supplied by Lloyds TSB Commercial Finance.
CIF’s chief executive, Dough Crawford, said in a statement that the invoice finance industry is “enjoying unprecedented growth in the current financial climate, and we intend to capitalise on the opportunity” by developing more tailored products and services as clients’ needs change.
Peter Cartwright, a partner in AnaCap’s business services unit, and Andy Wynn, its head of credit, will join CIF’s board and work closely with management.
Earlier this month AnaCap purchased the Mediterranean Bank, a Maltese bank, and in May it closed the first ever acquisition of a UK deposit-taking acquisition with the purchase of Ruffler Bank.
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