The issue was fully subscribed at its target issue size of 200 million shares, raising proceeds of £200 million. Trading is expected to start at 8am on the 17th March and the company’s ticker symbol will be VSL.
Andrew Adcock, Chairman of VPC Specialty Lending Investments PLC, commented:
“We are delighted with the strong demand we have received for the Issue from a broad range of investors. This is testament not only to the strength of the established business, extensive relationships and knowledge of Victory Park Capital’s investment management proposition, but also the fast growing and highly attractive specialty lending market.”
The prospectus of this offering said that the company will be targeting a net dividend yield of 8% and a net total return in excess of 10% per annum. Since its inception Victory Park Capital has completed about $2.9 billion of investments which includes a wide range of loans to small and medium sized businesses, subprime, near-prime and prime consumers.
Brendan Carroll, Partner and Co-Founder of Victory Park Capital, added:
“The significant growth in the specialty lending market through peer-to-peer and direct lending electronic platforms is supported by robust market dynamics and our strong pipeline of investment opportunities will deliver an attractive total return to our investors from a growing income stream coupled with the potential for capital appreciation. The success of the Issue is a strong endorsement of our team’s established track record and experience, leaving us well positioned to capitalise on this sector opportunity. We welcome the new shareholders of the Company and look forward to working with them and seeking to deliver on our investment strategy.”
The Company previously announced which platforms it has existing relationships with and those that it is likely to gain exposure to. These include, Assetz Capital;Avant Credit; Borro; Elevate Credit; Fast Legal Funding; Kreditech; LendUp Global; Funding Circle USA and Funding Circle;OnDeck Capital;Prosper Marketplace; Square and Upstart. The company aims to be fully invested by September.
Victory Park has also recently announced that it will be investing through Funding Circle. It will finance up to $420 million in loans to small businesses originated on the platform in both the US and the UK over the next three years. The company also recently committed to investing £150 million via the Assetz Capital platform over the next five years.
Gordon Watson, Principal at Victory Park Capital, summed up Victory Park’s lending experience:
“At Victory Park Capital, we have invested or committed more than $1.7 billion in the specialty lending market since 2010 across twelve specialty finance platforms, several of these relationships are proprietary to Victory Park Capital. We expect to remain an active lender with our existing relationships and forward purchase agreements, providing scalable access to online platforms whilst remaining comprehensive and disciplined in our process of analysing and managing potential investments.”
