West One Loan Limited / Enterprise Finance

Cavendish is pleased to announce the sale of West One Loan Limited (“West One”) to Enterprise Finance, an investee of ISIS Equity Partners

West One is a facilitator of bridging loans funded by high net worth investors. West One has grown significantly since its incorporation in 2008, becoming one of the largest privately funded short-term lenders in the UK secured lending market, with over £100m of loans currently under management and having completed deals in excess of £350 million to date.

Enterprise Finance is the UK’s largest specialist distributor of secured loans, and also specialises in bridging finance and commercial mortgages. Its market share enables it to offer highly competitive loan solutions to intermediaries and their clients, and a strong flow of business for specialist lenders. In February 2014, ISIS Equity Partners made a significant minority investment in Enterprise to support its growth and will also make a follow-on investment to part fund the acquisition of West One.

As part of the transaction, Duncan Kreeger and Stephen Wasserman, two of the founders of WestOne will join the Enterprise team. The two businesses, which are based in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, are to be integrated in the near future with both companies moving to a new, larger headquarters in the local area.

Danny Waters, CEO of Enterprise Finance said: “We have known the West One Loans team for a long time. Over the past six years, we have watched the business grow from a concept to what it is today – an established, financially robust and proven bridging lender with over £100m of loans under management. We feel, through this acquisition, we can help West One Loans realise its considerable potential far sooner. Also, with Stephen and Duncan joining the board, we will be adding strength and depth to our own senior management team and I look forward to working with them to take the business forward. From now on, our strategy as a group will be focused on both organic and buy-to-build growth, with this the first of a number of planned acquisitions.”

Duncan Kreeger, one of the founders of West One, commented: “The Cavendish team, led by Joe Stelzer, has provided invaluable advice in preparing our business for a sale process and assessing our options. This deal will give us more firepower and enable us to expand far more quickly. It’s fantastic news for our high net worth investors and broker partners alike.

“In Sӧderberg & Partners we have found a partner who sees the world the same way we do and the whole team at Fidelius is incredibly excited about the next phase of our journey. I would like to extend our thanks to Ben and the team at Cavendish who ran an excellent process and provided quality, considered advice throughout – many thanks to the whole team!”

Jim Grant, CEO, Fidelius Group

“In July 2015 we founded Pure Cremation and have grown the business to become the largest independent provider of prepaid plans in the UK. Pure is only part way through its exciting journey and, after a rigorous search process, we are delighted to have found such a strong partner in Epiris.

The Cavendish team, led by Jonathan Buxton and Ben Goldring, did a fantastic job, running a truly competitive process and managing the transaction with great skill. They were crucial in delivering this deal and its successful outcome – many thanks to the whole team.”

Bryan Powell and Catherine Powell, Co-Founders of Pure Cremation

“We are delighted to have achieved this result for the business that Daniel Freedman co-founded and found such a strong partner in the form of Lovell Minnick for the next stage of its growth. Howard and Ben were an excellent support throughout this process, and provided us with first class advice and guidance throughout.”

Elaine Freedman, shareholder of London & Capital

“We chose to partner with LMP because of the firm’s excellent track record of working with management teams to scale and enhance wealth and asset management firms. Their deep experience in the space and our sense of shared values and culture align with our focus on providing an exceptional service and experience for our clients.”

Guy McGlashan, Chief Executive Officer, London & Capital

“This partnership will enable us accelerate our global growth plans by investing in our people, technology, sales and marketing. I would like to thank the whole team at Cavendish for providing advice and guidance on this transformational transaction.”

Sean Fitzgerald, CEO, Sentenial

“This new partnership is a very exciting opportunity for Tempcover to both consolidate its existing position and provide a platform for further growth into new verticals and markets. Many thanks to Ben and the Cavendish team who provided invaluable advice throughout the process and helped us achieve this great outcome for the Company.”

Alan Inskip, CEO, Tempcover

We were delighted with our decision to engage with Cavendish to advise us on our plans to bring inward investment into the group. Duncan, James Ellis and James Baker brought such complementary skills to our internal deal team. They calmly helped us navigate through all stages of the process, due diligence and through to completion. They were a pleasure to work with and I’d highly recommended them

Steve Wilkie, Chairman and Co-Founder, the Responsible Group

“The Cavendish team led by Joe Stelzer and supported by Chirag Gohil did an outstanding job in identifying Begbies as a perfect home to drive our future growth. Cavendish negotiated an excellent deal and provided invaluable guidance to us through the process.”

Paul Appleton, Managing Partner at David Rubin & Partners

I am delighted that we have secured a new loan facility an that our three existing funders continue to support the business during this challenging period, demonstrating their confidence in Morses Club and our growth and digital diversification strategy.

Paul Smith, CEO, Morses Club PLC

Alan Inskip, CEO of Tempcover