Foresight Group, a leading listed regional private equity and infrastructure investment manager, has provided a senior debt facility to Belfast Commercial Funding (BCF), an alternative lending business supporting Northern Ireland and Irish developers and SMEs.
And it takes Foresight’s committed capital to the alternative lending sector to more than £400 million.
Headquartered in Belfast, BCF offers secured loans of up to £5 million across four products: property bridging, property development, SME and agricultural loans.
Founded in 2014, the BCF team has significant experience in supporting borrowers across many sectors.
It has a strong track record, having already written more than 80 loans across Ireland, and it is viewed as an experienced funder in the north, seeking to address the supply and demand imbalance in funding for SMEs.
With its new lending capacity, BCF says plans to grow its loan book and provide much-needed financing to borrowers across Ireland.
Adam Dickson, head of underwriting at BCF said: “We’re delighted to have secured the additional facility from Foresight, which increases our lending capacity.
“This additional line of funding will enable us to broaden our real estate offering and support more SMEs, house builders and entrepreneurs across the island of Ireland.”
He added: “At a time when many businesses are experiencing difficulties in accessing funding from mainstream lenders, and new home completions are continuing to fall short of annual targets, Belfast Commercial Funding is working to address these issues.
“Businesses require additional liquidity and we are excited to be working with Foresight. We believe their approach and principles to lending fit with our business. We look forward to supporting our existing customers and continuing to grow our customer base.”
Dan Lawson, senior private debt manager at Foresight, said: “We have ambitions to continue to grow our asset-backed lending portfolio and are delighted to be partnering with BCF.
“The team is highly experienced and has built a successful business by providing flexible funding to an increasingly underserved market. We look forward to supporting the team in its next phase of growth.”
Foresight’s Private Credit strategy provides secured wholesale loan facilities to alternative lenders; designing bespoke facilities to enabling innovative finance businesses to scale and better serve their customers.
Advisers to BCF were Bayhead, Grant Thornton NI and Millar McCall Wylie, while advising Foresight were T.Mistry & Associates,TLT, Catalysis Advisory, Lockton and KryptoKloud.
