Sancus extends funding facility with Pollen Street
Property bridging and development lender Sancus has extended its existing funding facility with Pollen Street from £75m to £125m.
The facility renegotiation – which lasts another four years – will provide additional funding capacity as the company seeks to grow its lending book.
The extension was approved by shareholders at meetings held on 7 November 2022, according to a Sancus announcement on the London Stock Exchange.
Read more: Sancus proposes refinancing to support growth plans
The deal will see Somerston Group, Sancus’ largest shareholder, hold 50.44 per cent of the company’s voting share capital.
Somerston is subscribing an additional £2.1m of new equity into the business with a further £2.425m to follow shortly by way of increasing their holding in the Sancus bond, according to a statement released by Sancus later on Thursday.
“This increase of £4.5m new cash into the business will enable the group to implement growth plans and highlights the confidence and support of their largest shareholder,” Sancus said.
Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for admission of the 94,294,869 new shares to trading on Aim, with dealings expected to commence on 30 November 2022.
A further update on the conditional bond issue will be provided in due course, Sancus said in the stock exchange announcement.
“I am delighted that we shall continue to work with Pollen, this will allow us to facilitate further expansion of our successful property lending throughout the UK, Ireland, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar,” said Rory Mepham, chief executive of Sancus.
“The confidence that Pollen has in the property sector and Sancus in particular, confirms our understanding of the potential in the market, the key benefits we offer borrowers and our rigorous credit management.”
Howard Garland, partner of Pollen Street Capital, added: “We are pleased to announce the extension of our funding line with Sancus as we continue to build our relationship with the business. We have been impressed with their performance and the hard work of the team. At Pollen Street Capital we look to partner with expert lenders which have deep experience in the sector and so we are delighted to continue our relationship with Sancus.”
Read more: Honeycomb completes acquisition of Pollen Street Capital
As Peer2Peer Finance News reported last month, Sancus proposed the refinancing to support the company at “a critical juncture in its turnaround plan”.
“The proposed refinancing, tender offer, extension of the group’s existing facility and capital injection strengthens the group’s financial position and will enable the group to continue to execute its growth plans”, Rory Mepham, chief executive of Sancus, said at the time.
“The extension of the Pollen Street facility for three years allows further growth in our loans under management. I would like to thank our ZDP holders and Somerston Group for their continued support as we continue to execute our turnaround and focus on growth.”
Aim-listed Sancus rebranded from GLI Finance in May 2021, which it said was due to an increased focus on the alternative property finance sector.