Ferovinum secures world-first $550m ABS for drinks industry
Ferovinum has secured a $550m (£401.6m) asset-backed securitisation (ABS) program with participation from Pollen Street Capital, in what is a global first for the drinks industry.
Credit investors and investment banks also participated in the new facility, which will see the funding and supply chain platform for drinks businesses expand its existing UK service offerings to businesses in the US and European Union initially, before entering Australia later in the year.
Ferovinum will be able to provide funding quickly to wine and spirits businesses, and offer global supply chain and inventory optimisation across SME, mid-market and large corporates within the drinks industry.
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The fintech called it “game-changing” for new client territories, such as the US domestic market and US operators that are export-focused.
In addition, the new debt facility gives Ferovinum the ability to offer “significant” storage capacity in hubs located in California, Florida, New Jersey and Texas.
The launch of the asset-backed securitisation program follows Ferovinum’s UK asset-backed lending syndicated deal with NatWest, Barclays and Shawbrook in 2023, and an equity funding round led by Notion Capital.
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“The drinks industry is currently navigating some of the most volatile trading conditions it has faced in the last 30 years,” said Mitch Fowler, co-founder and chief executive of Ferovinum.
“In order to thrive and take advantage of the opportunities this opens up in the space, businesses need access to flexible and capital-efficient funding solutions and an efficient global supply chain.”
He added: “This deal helps support our objective to help the industry operate a more capital-efficient supply chain that allows them to focus resources on their core activities and improve margins and profitability across the value chain.”
“The Ferovinum product is a great example of innovation in asset-backed finance, and is a perfect fit for our asset-backed credit strategy,” said Connor Marshall-McKie, investment director at Pollen Street.
Ferovinum was advised on the transaction by PwC lead advisory and debt capital markets, which acted as sole financial advisor, and by Linklaters, which served as sole legal counsel.
The underpin for the asset-backed securitisation is a multi-jurisdictional trust structure which enables access to the inventory and the financial receivables, and is portable, as Ferovinum expands to other countries, Linklaters said.
The Linklaters team was led by structured finance partner Tom Quoroll and managing associate Sebastian Witte, and corporate partner Chris Staples.
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