Leading law firm Blake Morgan has advised Propel Finance, the UK’s fastest-growing asset finance lender, on a £1.5bn funding round which will provide funding for thousands more small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across the UK investing in business-critical equipment and vehicles.
This new financing round has been backed by a number of leading financial institutions and investors, including Barclays, Bank of America, Citi, and the British Business Bank.
Blake Morgan advised on the wholesale and mezzanine facilities as part of the deal, while Interpath also supported as advisors on the new mezzanine facility.
It is the second deal that Blake Morgan has advised Propel Finance on in three years, after supporting the lender on its first private securitisation as part of a £500 million refinancing round in 2022.
Blake Morgan’s highly-regarded Banking & Finance team advised on the deal, the team comprised Partners Kath Shimmin, who leads the firm’s Structured Finance Practice, Natalie Coates and Paul Duggan. Blake Morgan also advises Propel in a variety of other areas including financial regulation.
Propel Finance lends to businesses acquiring manufacturing, transport and construction plant, equipment and vehicles, as well as supporting the UK’s largest resellers with sales of business-critical technology and telecoms solutions.
The latest funding round will enable Propel to continue its rapid growth and support for its partners and customers, driving innovation in the asset finance sector.
Propel has lent more than £1 billion in the last 3 years, supporting more than 50,000 SMEs over this time, and this latest funding round will support plans to more than double new lending over the next three years.
The lender has been recognised by Asset Finance UK 50 as seeing the “Fastest Sustained Growth by an Asset Finance Lender” for the past three consecutive years.
Kath Shimmin, partner in the Banking & Finance team and head of the Structured Finance Practice at Blake Morgan, said:
We are very proud to have worked once again with the excellent team at Propel Finance and its partners to get this latest funding round over the line. The timescale was challenging, as was the need to manage interlinked transactions simultaneously. It’s a testament to the expertise and commitment of the whole team that we completed the transaction in record time. Blake Morgan has deep expertise in banking and structured finance which the team has brought to bear in supporting this impactful deal.
With an additional £1.5 billion of funding, this deal is the foundation for the company’s next phase of growth and will enable thousands more SMEs across the UK to access vital investment. Crucially it forms an important part of Propel’s plans to more than double new lending over the next three years.
