All articles by Lola Ayanbunmi
Lola Ayanbunmi
Shawbrook acquires Singers increasing loan book to £500million
Lending bank Shawbrook has acquired Singers Asset Finance, more than tripling its loan book size, in a strategic bid to extend its customer base. Although Shawbrook declined to disclose the worth of the acquisition, it did reveal that the size of its loan book increased from £150million to £500million after the deal was made The takeover will see Shawbrook, which prior to buying Singers had specialised in savings and loans for mortgage products, enter the asset finance market with Singers established client base.
US leasing index up alongside business confidence
Equipment leasing volume among companies surveyed by the Monthly Leasing and Finance Index (MLFI-25), was $5.0bn (3.7bn) in February, an increase of 22% year-on-year, despite being 2% down on the previous month The figures, published by US leasing trade body the Equipment Leasing and Finance Association (ELFA), showed receivables in arrears from up from 1.9% to 2.5% in the month, largely due to higher than average delinquencies at one of the 25 companies surveyed.
SMA launches new ‘support services’ division
Motor auction group SMA Vehicle Remarketing has introduced an additional support function as part of its fleet management service. SMA Support Services, launched on March 1, includes a separate Inspection Services which SMA claims to be the stand out feature. Using the companys own inspection software, the process is intended to standardise inspections across the organisation and speed up the end of lease procedure
Burgess confirmed as new Managing Director of HPI
Daniel Burgess has been confirmed as the new managing director of HPI by Solera Holdings, the owners of the vehicle information provider. Burgess, who was previously the sales and marketing and operations director, will use his previous experience to strengthen HPIs position within the vehicle data market Chairman, founder and CEO of Solera Holdings Tony Aquila said: Daniel will be responsible for a new level of success for HPI, as we continue to create new products and services designed to protect and support our customers.
Emric acquires Extenda Financial Solutions
Software and service provider Emric has taken another step in its growth ambitions by acquiring back office specialist Extenda Financial Solutions (EFS).This is the second acquisition in the last 12 months for Emric, which offers system support for credit decisions and administration processes across a range of credit products including leasing In acquiring Extenda Financial Solutions, we are taking a big step towards our long-term goal of becoming a full-service partner with an integrated solution for banks, leasing and credit institutes globally.Thanks to this acquisition, we can now offer a more modern front-to-back solution for mortgages and corporate credits.Juha Duvaldt, Managing Director of Extenda, said: For us the acquisition is a way of taking a step to the next level
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Ignition Credit takes on two new faces
Melanie Moyle and Lisa Daniels have 26 years experience of motor finance between them and have returned to the sector after each taking a hiatus from the industry.
GE surveys reveal outdated equipment and investment reluctance lose UK SMEs billions
A sharp drop in capital expenditure by UK SMEs has been forecast for the coming year in new research published by GE Capital. The commercial finance provider has found that while there is still some appetite to invest mainly in upgrading or replacing existing equipment actual spending will fall 12% from last years £42.1bn expenditure. As stated in Leasing Lifes UK country profile last month, more than 20% of UK capex is achieved through asset finance, meaning this will come as worrying news for leasing companies relying on an increase in demand from small businesses to prosper in 2013.