Introducer and lessor Print
Finance will aim at mid-market, writes Fred Crawley.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Five Arrows Leasing Group (FALG)
has acquired broker turned lender Print Finance plc, providing new
competition in the UK print market.
Print Finance, founded in 1990 by
managing director Paul Coggins, is known as a print finance
introducer, but also maintains a lease book believed to have a
value in the single-digit millions.
It will retain its staff and broker
function, but will be developed into a more significant lender with
an eye to soaking up some of the unfulfilled demand for finance in
the print sector.
Sam Geneen, FALG managing director,
said: “Having an invigorated player in the print finance market
able to offer direct solutions as well as brokered finance is an
exciting development.
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Thank you!
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below form
By GlobalData“The understanding that Paul and
his team have of the printing sector, coupled with the resources of
Five Arrows and Rothschild, will undoubtedly bring more competition
in the market – and this can only be a good thing for printers
seeking finance.”
ING Lease UK and HSBC Equipment
Finance operate at the prime end of the market, with ING understood
to take on a larger amount of smaller deals, and HSBC looking to
work above a £250,000 (€294,434) average deal size more often than
not.
Deutsche Leasing, De Lage Landen
and SG Equipment Finance also lend at the high end of the market,
but through the vendor channel, in accordance with the global
strategy of their parent organisations.
While RBS subsidiary Lombard
maintains a strong print division under the umbrella of its
specialist asset finance division led by Wes Harfield, it tends to
lend only to RBS group customers.
Close Print Finance (CPF) has
developed in recent years through its ability to price for variable
levels of risk, combined with its access to capital through
merchant bank parent Close Brothers.
Print Finance is understood to be
lending at a lower average rate than CPF, but is still able to
accommodate businesses beyond the risk appetite of the market’s
high end.
Coggins said: “There is demand in
the current market place for an additional specialist funder with a
deep understanding of the marketplace we operate in.”
Five Arrows Leasing Group has
already demonstrated that it can make good returns from difficult
places through deployment of specialist knowledge.
After a shaky start to the
recession, subprime asset finance subsidiary State Securities has
had a widely respected return to form and profit in the last twelve
months.
This is due not only to State’s
credit policy, but its knowledge of assets. What it would otherwise
lose on repossessions it makes back through management of the
equipment on its books.
If Print Finance can offer competitive but risk-appropriate
pricing, while taking the Five Arrows Leasing Group approach to
knowing its assets, it could prosper in the print sector.
