Analysis by ThinCats has revealed a significant shift in the type of lender providing external debt for mergers and acquisitions (M&A).
Alternative lender ThinCats is the trading name of a group of companies owned by London-headquartered ESF Capital.
It is focused on the small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) market.
What do Experian’s figures show?
After taking a deep dive into an Experian Market IQ report on 2023 M&A transaction activity in the UK, ThinCats said the total volume and value of deals fell by 12% and 21% respectively last year.
The market share of the UK’s five biggest banks has fallen from 63% to 28% over past 10 years, the lender added.
Meanwhile, the market share for alternative lenders has risen from 2% to 28%.
ThinCats said it was now the top-ranked non-bank lender in four parts of the UK – Scotland, the north-west of England, London, and the east of England.
The firm continued: “Looking at those transactions which involved external debt, volumes were down 20%, compared to 2022. ThinCats funded the most deals by a non-bank lender to rank second overall, 15 transactions fewer than leading overall lender HSBC.
“Further analysis of the underlying data by ThinCats, covering the 10 years from 2014-2023, shows a significant shift in the type of lender providing external debt for M&A transactions.
Market share: Big banks down, challengers and alternatives up
“The big five banks experienced a fall in market share from 63% in 2014 to 28% in 2023.
“During the same period, challenger banks experienced a small increase in share from 9% to 13% – as did asset-backed lenders whose share rose from 26% to 31%.
“The main increase came from alternative lenders, whose share rose from 2% to 28%.”
Commenting on the findings, ThinCats chief executive Amany Attia said: “The (Experian) report reveals that businesses remained cautious about taking on additional borrowing to fund M&A transactions during 2023, with volumes down 20% on 2022.
“This is no surprise, given the relatively weak economic backdrop and rising costs of borrowing during the year, although it’s likely that interest rates have now peaked.”
Ms Attia added: “Feedback from our conversations with corporate finance advisers across the UK is that confidence and activity levels since the new year have started to pick up as businesses feel more positive that rates are not going to rise from current levels.
Our analysis gives a very clear picture of how dramatically the funding landscape for M&A transactions has changed over the last 10 years.”
“From ThinCats’ perspective, 2023 was a record year for origination.
“It’s encouraging that we continued to grow our market share, remain the leading non-bank lender nationally and were the overall market leader in four regions.
“On a wider level, our analysis gives a very clear picture of how dramatically the funding landscape for M&A transactions has changed over the last 10 years, with the decline of the big five banks mirrored by the rise of alternative lenders such as ThinCats.”
North-east deals for ThinCats in recent years include its £13.5 million backing for north-east businessmen Alfie Cheyne buying back the company he founded, Ace Winches, from Balmoral Group in late 2021.
ThinCats, which funds SMEs with loans from £1m up to £15m, said its financial package for Mr Cheyne and his wife, Valerie, helped them to repurchase the shares.
Last year, the Cheynes sold their business – based at Towie Barclay Works near Turriff – to Westhill-headquartered subsea equipment rental and solutions firm Ashtead Technology for £53.5m.
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