Metro Bank completes sale of RateSetter’s car dealer finance loans
Metro Bank has completed the disposal of RateSetter’s car dealer finance loan portfolio, two months after the bank acquired RateSetter’s outstanding loan book.
The car dealer finance portfolio was sold to LE Capital UK (Asset 1) Limited. The terms of the sale were not made public, but it is believed that the loan portfolio had an aggregate book value of £15m.
Metro Bank said that the car dealer finance loans formed a “non-core part of the RateSetter back book acquired on 2 April”.
The bank added: “This development is not one which materially affects our forecasts or valuation assessment.”
Read more: Metro Bank used RateSetter brand to improve consumer lending in Q1
Metro Bank announced its acquisition of the RateSetter platform in September 2020. In February 2021, it told its investors that Metro Bank would purchase the remaining loan portfolio, which had an estimated total value of £384m at the time.
As a result of the loan book acquisition, all RateSetter investors were told that they would be able to withdraw all their funds starting 2 April 2021.
“We are incredibly exited about this new investment,” said George Stancliffe, chief executive of LE Capital, and former head of asset finance at RateSetter.
“We are incredibly excited about this new investment. It recognises the team’s hard work and will allow us to continue offering great funding products and help dealerships grow.”
LE Capital was incorporated in December 2020. The portfolio purchase was backed by Wallop Ventures and supported by Paragon Bank Structured Lending.
Jamie Pickering, director of Paragon Bank Structured Lending added that the funding will support the company’s growth ambitions and “is further evidence of the commitment of Paragon Bank’s Structured Lending team to support innovative companies.”
Read more: RateSetter confident of growing Metro Bank’s unsecured lending