28 June 2016
GLI Finance Limited
("GLI" or the "Company")
Acquisition of FundingKnight
The board of GLI announced in its strategic review update released on 16 February 2016 that it had not been possible to agree a way forward between GLI and FundingKnight, an online peer to peer lending platform. As a result, GLI became a passive investor with respect to its interests in Funding Knight Holdings Limited ("FKH"), the holding company for the FundingKnight group. These include a 23.4% interest in FKH's issued ordinary share capital with a carrying value of £2.481 million, a £1.001 million investment in FKH's preference share capital together with accrued interest of £0.290 million thereon and £0.525 million of loans provided by GLI to FKH.
On 28 June 2016, Greg Palfrey and Steve Adshead of Smith & Williamson LLP ("S&W") were appointed as administrators to FKH. The board of GLI is pleased to announce that, shortly after S&W's appointment, the Company agreed to acquire the respective entire issued share capitals of Funding Knight Limited ("FundingKnight", FKH's operating subsidiary) along with FKH's other subsidiaries, Funding Knight Services Limited and Funding Knight Corporate Services Limited, both of which are dormant (the "Acquisition"). Consideration of £0.75 million was paid in cash at completion of the Acquisition. As part of the terms of the Acquisition, GLI has also committed to provide Funding Knight with at least £1 million of further capital to finance its ongoing operations.
Funding Knight recorded unaudited turnover and a post-tax loss of approximately £0.61 million and £1.17 million respectively in the financial year ended 31 March 2016. FundingKnight's unaudited net assets at 31 March 2016 were approximately £0.13 million. £0.45 million of the consideration for the Acquisition will be applied by S&W in partial settlement of the Company's loan to FKH. The remainder of GLI's interests in FKH will be written down to £nil in the Company's balance sheet.
Andy Whelan, CEO of GLI said
"We believe FundingKnight is a fundamentally good business with strategic value. By acquiring the business at a low entry price, we will help secure the continued employment of the FundingKnight team and provide reassurance to the investors in FundingKnight loans and FundingKnight's SME client base that have existing loans or are seeking to borrow. In the medium term, we will be seeking to maximise the potential of FundingKnight in a way which is consistent with our strategic plans."
For further information, please contact:
GLI Finance Limited
Andy Whelan
+44 (0)1534 708900
Panmure Gordon (Nominated Adviser and Corporate Broker)
Dominic Morley
+44 (0)20 7886 2954
Peter Steel
+44 (0)113 357 1152
Charles Leigh Pemberton
+44 (0)20 7886 2906
Instinctif Partners (PR Advisor)
Tim Linacre/Nick Woods
+44 (0)207 457 2020
Smith & Williamson LLP (Administrators to FKH)
Greg Palfrey/Steve Adshead
+44 (0)23 8082 7600
About GLI Finance
GLI Finance (www.glifinance.com) is a specialist provider of finance to small and medium sized enterprises. Its ordinary shares are quoted on the AIM and its issued zero dividend preference shares are listed and traded on the main market of the London Stock Exchange (ticker GLIF (Ord) and GLIZ (2019 ZDP)). The loans are provided to SMEs through a variety of finance platforms in which GLI Finance has an equity stake.
The platforms in which GLI Finance is invested vary by geography, industry, size of lending and by type of lending. They include Global trade Finance, UK and US SME Lending, Offshore Lending, UK invoice discounting, European invoice discounting, Global multi-asset crowd funding and UK property-backed lending.