Ashcombe advises The Paragon Group of Companies Plc on its acquisition of Five Arrows Leasing Group
Ashcombe Advisers is pleased to announce that it has acted as exclusive financial adviser to The Paragon Group of Companies plc (“Paragon”) on the acquisition of Five Arrows Leasing Group (“FALG”) by its subsidiary, Paragon Bank PLC from Rothschild & Co for a total consideration of £117 million. FALG is a leading specialist asset finance business in the UK with £245 million of assets and net assets of £42.9 million at 31 March 2015. In the year to March 2015 it made profit before tax of £10.2 million. FALG operates across five divisions: SME equipment, media finance, commercial vehicle services, construction equipment and outsourcing services to third parties.
FALG will become a subsidiary of Paragon Bank PLC and expand its current product range of savings products, car finance, secured loans and buy-to-let mortgages.
Nigel Terrington, Chief Executive, said:
"I am delighted that we have acquired Five Arrows Leasing, a business we have admired for many years as a market leader in the asset finance sector. The acquisition provides the opportunity to continue pursuing our strategy of diversifying the Group's income streams, building strong and sustainable earnings growth and enhancing our return on equity. Ashcombe Advisers' experience in the speciality finance sector played a crucial role in enabling the transaction to be properly assessed and executed.”
Andreas Wesemann of Ashcombe Advisers commented:
“We are delighted to have been able to work with Paragon on the acquisition of Five Arrows, building on our experience in the banking and commercial finance markets in the UK. The transaction will be significantly earnings-enhancing to Paragon and represents an excellent fit for its banking operations.”