- OakNorth Bank has provided a bespoke £10.5m liquidity facility to RM Secured Direct Lending PLC (“RMDL”);
- The loan will enable RMDL to finance its pipeline of investment opportunities and grow its portfolio;
- OakNorth Bank has partnered with RMDL on several transactions in the past, so this facility will help further develop the relationship.
OakNorth Bank
– the UK bank powered by OakNorth – has completed a debt finance deal of £10.5m for RM Secured Direct Lending PLC (“RMDL”), a closed-ended investment trust which specialises in secured debt for small and medium-sized businesses.
RMDL is a closed-end investment trust listed on the London Stock Exchange, which aims to generate attractive and regular dividends through secured loans to businesses sourced or originated by the Investment Manager, RM Capital Markets. These loans are predominantly secured against assets such as real estate, plant, machinery, or income streams. Since listing in December 2016, RMDL has invested in 35 loans across 13 sectors, including healthcare, energy, property, hospitality and leisure. In the last 12 months, the average yield from the investment portfolio has been 8.82%, while dividend yield stands at 6.77%.
Pietro Nicholls, Portfolio Manager at RM Funds, commented: “We chose OakNorth because as a bank that lends to lower mid-market businesses across the UK, the team have an in-depth understanding of the complex financing needs of businesses, as well as how best to structure loan facilities for different sectors. We have worked with them on multiple transactions in the past, so know how committed they are and how efficiently they’ll work to get a deal done in the time frame needed. We look forward to deploying these funds into quality businesses.”
Mohith Sondhi, Senior Debt Finance Director at OakNorth Bank, continued: “RM Secured Direct Lending has continued to perform very well, going from strength to strength over the years we’ve worked with them. The management team has over 140 years’ experience between them, as well as a proven track record of delivering solid returns and dividends for shareholders. Given that we have worked with the trust on numerous transactions in the past, we have a good understanding of how the team operate, as well as their expectations for partners.”