Multi-million-pound deal to finance European expansion

INVESTMENT group GE Capital is lending £111m to a leading global supplier of car parts, to allow it to expand in Europe.

The firm is providing the pan-European asset-based lending facility to components and systems maker IAC Group.

The credit line will support IAC’s working capital needs and its plans to expand in other European markets, namely Belgium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the Netherlands.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

IAC, which has a plant in Scunthorpe, makes components for major car groups including Jaguar Land Rover, Volvo, Skoda, Volkswagen and BMW.

“Our vision is to continue to serve our core customers and develop our business to support the important automotive sector in Europe,” said Simon Kesterton, IAC’s chief strategy officer and European chief financial officer.

“The automotive components industry is capital-intensive, and the working capital and asset-based solution provided by GE Capital creates significant manufacturing growth capacity for our business.”

The fund will help support production of components for the new Land Rover Evoque.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The credit line will run in parallel with an existing $200m asset-based facility, led by GE Capital in the US for IAC Group North America.

The latest deal will create a single line of credit that can be used flexibly across Europe to target growth opportunities.

Rich Laxer, president and chief executive of GE Capital EMEA, said: “IAC Group needed a financial partner who could offer pan-European reach, working capital expertise and structuring capabilities to help create important growth capacity for their business, and I’m delighted that we are able to be that partner.

“Like IACG, more and more companies across Europe are recognising the value of accounts receivable finance to meet cross-border needs.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“They understand the benefits of using a single, scalable facility that functions on a regional level and gives much greater clarity of working capital performance.”

IAC Group, based in Luxembourg, has 74 manufacturing facilities in 16 countries. It employs approximately 6,000 people in Europe and 22,000 people globally. Its other UK sites include Solihull, Birmingham, Liverpool and Sunderland.