Trade finance fintech closes first securitisation

The deal takes PrimaDollar’s annual financing capacity to over $100m.

Emerging trade finance fintech PrimaDollar has closed a $25m revolving credit facility – the company’s first securitisation.

It was arranged and structured by NIBC Bank Deutschland AG with London-based law firm Reed Smith acting as advisor. Two senior lenders – NIBC and Advance Global Capital – will participate from the start of the deal, while PrimaDollar says that more lenders can be added ‘easily’.

The facility is asset-backed, based on Loan Market Association (LMA) standard documentation. It is also set up to meet international bankruptcy-remote standards, but without requiring ‘true scale’.

“The NIBC and Reed Smith teams have pulled together to create a flexible and powerful financing structure which operates on a revolving basis. PrimaDollar is scaling quickly, and now has the low-cost finance available that our international clients need,” said Tim Nicolle (pictured middle-right), CEO of PrimaDollar.

The UK-based PrimaDollar has clients in 20 countries and eight offices spread across three continents. It supports SME exporters in emerging markets with limited access to finance but creditworthy international buyers. The firm says it is able to generate ‘high quality, credit-insured receivables which are ideal for asset-based financing’.

The facility brings its annual financing firepower to over $100m. PrimaDollar says the facility could serve as a financing template for alternative finance providers across Europe and overseas. Its CEO Tim Nicolle has previously written for AltFi, arguing against peer-to-peer as a means of funding loans. He seems to be sticking to his guns.