Assetz secures extra £25m from British Business Bank for CBILS lending
Assetz Capital has secured an additional £25m from the British Business Bank’s commercial subsidiary to fund coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) loans.
British Business Investments (BBI) has now committed £40m in total to the peer-to-peer business lending platform to support small- and medium-sized enterprise (SME) property developers hit by Covid-19.
The BBI committed £15m to Assetz for CBILS lending in March. The platform said that this has supported in excess of £85m of new lending to smaller businesses, including the development of nearly 600 new homes across the UK by SME housebuilders.
Aros Kapital, the Nordic financing provider, is also participating and will be increasing its existing commitment for Assetz Capital’s CBILS lending.
Read more: Assetz Capital completes £1.5m fundraise using future fund
“We are pleased to have secured this additional funding commitment from BBI which will make a real difference to smaller housebuilders and SMEs across the UK,” said Stuart Law (pictured), chief executive of Assetz Capital.
“The institutional funding lines that we’ve put in place to deliver CBILS, and beyond, are significant, and is an indication of our ambitions to scale up lending to sustainable businesses, even through this difficult period.
“The future of the country depends upon the majority of our nation’s businesses surviving the Covid-19 impact and hence protecting the bulk of the UK’s employment. SMEs employ 60 per cent of all private sector workers and the role of alternative finance in supporting those businesses and jobs has never been more critical.
“Rishi Sunak and the British Business Bank’s support for SMEs through backing of the alternative finance industry has been incredibly important.
“The roll-out of CBILS approved lending beyond the big banks into the established alternative lenders like ourselves is a game changer for the breadth of economic support the country can receive in this and future crises.”
Read more: Assetz Capital ‘working hard on new initiatives’ to boost liquidity
“It’s great to hear that the initial £15m commitment from BBI has already supported the development of 600 new homes across the UK,” said Judith Hartley, chief executive of the BBI.
“This additional commitment of £25m to Assetz Capital supports our objective to increase the diversity and supply of finance for smaller businesses across the UK, whilst also providing much needed support to smaller housebuilders who have been impacted by the current crisis.”
Read more: P2P lenders give CBILS mixed reviews
