Venture provided £37.5 million for Unipart deal

Venture Finance provided a funding line of £37.5 million to finance H2 Equity Partner’s recent acquisition of a controlling stake in Unipart Automotive. And what’s more there is said to be “increased appetite for structured private equity deals.”

As we have seen, the Unipart acquisition was supported by a £37.5 million funding line from independent Invoice and Asset Based Lender, Venture Finance PLC, part of the ABN AMRO Commercial Finance Group (ACF). But Venture also reports that its Structured Finance Division worked closely with H2, using a comprehensive funding package of Receivables and Inventory Finance to fund the acquisition. H2 has been a client of ABN AMRO, Venture Finance’s parent company since 1992.

Patrick Wilkins, Structured Regional director at Venture, commented: “H2 already has a close relationship with ABN AMRO, so it’s fantastic for Venture to be able support this deal in the UK. I’m proud we were able to provide both the working capital and headroom necessary not only to make the deal happen, but also to produce a level of flexibility for the business’ future plans.”

Steve Websdale, Venture’s managing director, South added: “It’s great we’ve been able to support H2 in this acquisition, the deal holds many synergies so the transaction is an excellent move. In today’s climate, private equity houses are increasingly looking to Asset Based Lending to structure new deals. Our increasingly close relationship with ABN AMRO has enhanced both our ability and appetite to work at this level.  Private equity is an exciting and dynamic area and we are keen to take part in this type of deal in the future.”