Leumi ABL

Asset Based Lender of the Year – UK

Leumi ABL is delighted to have won the title of Asset Based Lender of the Year in the Dealmakers Country Awards 2012. Leumi ABL is the specialist asset based lending subsidiary of Bank Leumi (UK) plc, an international bank that has just celebrated its 110th anniversary.

Providing funding from £1m to £25m, Leumi ABL provides a full range of asset based lending facilities, including stock finance and plant and machinery finance, real differentiators in today’s market. This is supported by trade finance and property finance facilities via Bank Leumi (UK).

2011 marked the fifth anniversary of the launch of Leumi ABL and the team continues to work closely with dealmaking communities, earning a reputation for their flexible and highly personal approach to assisting business growth.

During the past twelve months Leumi ABL has seen an increase in requests for the financing of M&A activity, pointing to greater confidence in the business community, as well as continued refinancing activity as businesses struggle to obtain the levels of financing and flexibility they need from existing banking arrangements. Leumi ABL is able to offer greater flexibility than bank owned invoice discounters, and their bespoke approach to funding mid-market businesses is winning recognition everywhere.

Most recently, Leumi ABL has supported 229 year old business, Brintons Carpets Limited, with a multi-asset ABL package totalling over £11m, comprising debtor, stock and plant and machinery facilities.

Another deal saw Leumi ABL put together an asset based lending package as part of a £130m syndicated facility for Celsa Steel (UK) Limited. Leumi ABL provided a £20m invoice discounting facility with stock finance.

Increasing numbers of opportunities are benefiting from Leumi ABL’s ability to put in place a jointly structured funding facility with Bank Leumi (UK). One such deal was Lambson Building Products Limited where a total funding facility of £9.44m was provided.

As M&A picks up and refinancing continues to come out of high street clearers, Leumi ABL is well placed to offer the consistency and stability which is so highly valued as the market recovery gets underway.

Contact:

Phil Woodward, Managing Director
Email: pwoodward@leumiabl.co.uk

Tel: 01273 716200
Mob: 07900 802774
www.leumiabl.co.uk

Leumi ABL Limited
126 Dyke Road
Brighton
East Sussex, BN1 3TE

Editorial commentary from Jason Holland, Leumi ABL

The invoice finance market and ABL market continues to see growth; old, traditional forms of finance (overdraft and short term loans) have been replaced over the years with this dynamic, relatively easy to obtain finance. This is more recently due to the clear reluctance of the many banks to lend on an overdraft basis, both due to the legal structures now in place following the Enterprise Act 2002 and also the impact on their risk rated capital returns under the Basel II (and III) regulations. Bank credit departments are themselves pushing customers towards invoice finance and ABL recognising the more secure basis it provides. The benefit is therefore for both company and invoice finance provider – the company generally achieves greater liquidity and the finance provider greater security than traditional forms of funding.

Those in the know – including corporate finance advisers and restructuring specialists – have long known the value of an invoice finance or ABL proposition and it is now fast becoming a well recognised and respected form of business funding in those sectors where it is applicable – think any sort of manufacturing, haulage, recruitment, wholesale, distribution, engineering. That said, there is a home for companies of almost every size, shape and industry, and the market, whilst dominated by the big four, has a plethora of fast, moving, easy to deal with independent players, who compete on fleetness of foot and short hierarchies to enable decisions to be made quickly and make deals certain and deliverable in short timescales – often lacking in the big four.

There has been some industry consolidation and deals undertaken, with US Banks entering the UK market in some force but typically at higher turnover levels and there is likely to be more industry consolidation over the coming years as some of the very small, specialist players, find funding lines with their backers becoming increasingly expensive, find it more difficult to compete in an ever competitive market place or indeed find that the risk they are requiring to take is not commensurate with the rate they achieve. These business models will not survive.

The good news is for SME’s out there – invoice finance businesses are keen for your business, costs are competitive, but be wary who you partner as it is an important business decision that is critical to your business liquidity. With the realisation that we are going to be in a low growth period for some time to come and continuing uncertainty over the Euro, flexibility remains one of the key attractions of invoice finance. As businesses look to the future and decide how best to support further stages of growth, those finance providers who can offer a flexible approach coupled with consistency and stability will stand out.

Andy Norton, Regional Manager at Leumi Invoice Finance, says: “We are seeing a massive flight away from the mainstream Banks, where as a result of the global crisis, there appear to be inconsistencies and unpredictability in decision making which business find difficult to accept. Business owners want stability and a local contact whom they can trust and moreover, contact quickly should there ever be a problem, which is another area where service can often be poor in the mainstream.”

Jason Holland
Midlands Regional Sales Director – Leumi ABL
M: 07824 486820
leumiabl.co.uk

Thanks to the efforts of the entire team, both divisions have increased client numbers and the funds in use have grown to their highest level since inception. Short decision making lines, fast credit approvals and continuing involvement of the senior team throughout the relationship have all contributed to the Leumi team winning many new opportunities in the year that marked the fifth anniversary of the launch of Leumi ABL.

Furthermore, last year the business added to their client base by acquiring the client portfolio of Coface, and indeed prospects continue to look bright for 2012, the year in which their parent bank celebrates its 110th anniversary.

leumiabl.co.uk

Leumi ABL has raised over £10,000 for Martlets since they began supporting the charity in 2009. The Leumi team hope that 2012 will be their best fundraising year ever as Alan gears up for his marathon run, determined to raise even more than the first time he ran.

Chief Executive, Paul Hird, explained his determination to support Martlets: “With important services under threat in this time of economic crisis and public spending austerity, Martlets needs our support more than ever. Now that Leumi ABL has been up and running for over five years, we are keen to take our corporate social responsibilities even more seriously and we are very proud to be able to support the local community in this way.”

Paul and long time colleague and friend Phil Woodward set up asset based lending specialist, Leumi ABL, in 2006 and the business has gone from strength to strength in the last five years, financing the growth of many successful businesses and now employing 39 people, providing much needed high quality employment in Brighton.

Alan, talking about his decision to run the marathon for the second time said: “The last time, I vowed never to do it again, after hurting my knee and being sore for an eternity afterwards. However, this is such a good cause I have agreed to try it one more time!”

leumiabl.co.uk