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This article was first published in the January 2025 issue of Butterworths Journal of International Banking and Financial Law.

Travers Smith's Specialty and Structured Finance team were among the more than 1,200 registered delegates at DealCatalyst's ABSF Global Conference at the Royal Lancaster on Monday 25 November 2024.

As alternative lenders scale, most will move from corporate facilities and overdrafts on bank standard forms to consider a "specialty finance" facility.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Shawbrook Bank (Shawbrook) and Hampshire Trust Bank (HTB) on a facility upsize to Newble Commerce. 

Travers Smith advises Quilam Capital on combined £90 million debt upsizing and new facility made available to Perch Group

Travers Smith LLP has advised Shawbrook Bank on a speciality finance facility, including a multi-million pound revolving credit facility, to real estate lender Zenzic Capital.

Travers Smith LLP has advised NatWest on a £95 million debt facility provided to motor finance fintech Carmoola. The funding will be deployed to continue to scale the business and support the customer adoption that Carmoola has seen since launching ten months ago.

In this briefing we explore the risk that a lender might renege (voluntarily or involuntarily) on its funding commitments. We touch on the different types of lender entities in the market currently and examine why there are often different reasons behind such a failure to fund.

Travers Smith has advised Quilam Capital on the provision of a new significant committed debt facility to Perch Group, a Blackpool-headquartered specialist credit and asset management company.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Reto Property Finance Limited (Reto Finance) on its £15 million investment from listed alternative investment manager, Foresight Group (Foresight). Reto Finance was launched in 2019, following a buy-out from Shawbrook International by Quilam Capital, and has since served hundreds of consumer and SME borrowers across the Channel Islands.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Paragon Bank plc (Paragon) on a speciality finance facility provided to LE Capital to partly fund LE Capital's acquisition of the RateSetter car dealer finance loan portfolio from Metro Bank.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Wafra Capital Partners (WCP) on its £160 million strategic investment in ThinCats, the leading alternative finance provider to mid-sized SMEs. WCP has partnered with Quilam Capital on the transaction.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Ingenious Real Estate Finance (Ingenious) on a £25 million senior revolving credit facility, with a £10 million accordion. The facility is provided by Shawbrook Bank (Shawbrook) and will support a strong pipeline of bridge and development finance loans, providing Ingenious with committed capital funding to pursue growth.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Paragon Bank plc (Paragon) and Silicon Valley Bank UK Branch (SVB) on the refinancing of a senior debt facility provided to Liberis, a leader in embedded finance solutions. The transaction included bringing SVB into a senior lender group that also includes British Business Investments and marks the first time that our Finance Group has advised long-term client SVB in the speciality finance space.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Shawbrook Bank Limited (Shawbrook) on a new £25 million facility made available to KHK Capital (KHK), a bridging and development lender to property investors, developers and professionals. This new financing line enables KHK Capital to meet rapidly growing demand from new and repeat customers for lending solutions on a diverse range of residential and commercial property.

Travers Smith LLP has advised Shawbrook Bank Limited (Shawbrook) on the refinancing of a senior debt facility provided to specialist real estate lender, Pivot Finance (Pivot). The funding will be used to underwrite unregulated bridging loans and build out Pivot's bridging and development finance offering. The specialist lender also agreed a new £15 million investment from Quilam Capital.

Travers Smith LLP has advised digital mortgage lender Molo on a forward flow arrangement as part of its £266 million debt and equity fundraising. The investment was led by Macquarie Group and Patron Capital, a pan-European institutional investor focused on property-backed investments, while the equity round was led by Yabeo, an international venture capital firm.

In this In Practice article Finance partner Charles Bischoff and Senior Associate Tom Maclean examine the impact of COVID 19 on lenders and borrowers in the speciality finance space. 

Travers Smith LLP has advised Paragon Bank plc (Paragon) on a senior debt facility provided to Liberis, a leader in alternative finance solutions.

Travers Smith LLP has advised specialist investment firm Quilam Capital (Quilam) on the provision of a term loan to UK SME finance platform Rocking Horse.