White Oak grows asset finance business with £150m facility

Independent business lender White Oak has announced it has completed a securitisation facility from Barclays Bank Plc (“Barclays”), with the funds set to be deployed to SMEs across the UK via asset finance solutions.

White Oak is committed to supporting the UK’s economic recovery and will use this facility to enable SMEs and mid-size corporates to invest in their business and drive productivity and growth. This comes as the UK government implements several measures to encourage businesses to invest, including the super deduction which allows businesses to cut their tax bill by up to 25p for every £1 they invest.

With a balance sheet of c. £500m, White Oak is one of the largest non-bank SME lenders in the UK. The firm has been instrumental in supporting a range of SMEs and mid-sized corporates during the pandemic via the CBILS scheme as well as its existing lease and loans products.

Building on an established track record in the UK since 1986, White Oak is now set to deploy significant capital into asset finance over the coming years while continuing to grow its loans business.  White Oak will deploy support across a range of sectors including agriculture, manufacturing, and construction with its team of consultants having a wealth of experience from across these sectors.

The specialist asset finance securitisation facility is the second that White Oak has put in place with Barclays following a £150m CBILS securitisation facility in September last year.

White Oak recently announced a new HQ office in Chester to support continued growth for the business. With offices in London, Glasgow, Southampton, and Chester, White Oak benefits from national coverage, and its 100+ origination force has approved loans for SMEs and mid-sized corporates right across the country, with 79% of lending so far deployed to businesses outside of London.

Daniel Werchola, chief strategy officer at White Oak Europe, said: “Having focused on supporting SMEs and mid-corporates through the pandemic with both CBILS and our traditional lending products, we now see a great opportunity to support the UK economic recovery by further deploying capital into asset finance products for our customers alongside our loan products.  We are pleased to have worked with Barclays on this transaction, which will support our continued growth.”

Doug Banks, treasurer at White Oak Europe, said:  “We are pleased to have successfully executed another significant transaction with Barclays, working together to develop this specialist facility.  This adds another securitisation to our diverse funding mix that allows us to efficiently deploy funds into the SME and mid-corporate market.”