- Founded in 2017 by Paul and Richard Pindar, Literacy Capital is a closed-end investment company focused on investing in and supporting growing UK businesses;
- The firm listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market in June 2021, before gaining Investment Trust status on 1 April 2022;
- The £40m NAV facility will refinance existing debt, as well as provide additional capital and flexibility to support Literacy’s investment activity;
- The transaction is OakNorth’s third fund finance deal completed in as many months, highlighting its growing expertise in fund finance.
OakNorth, the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, has provided a £40m NAV Revolving Credit Facility (RCF) to returning customer, Literacy Capital.
Founded in 2017 by Paul and Richard Pindar, Literacy is a closed-end investment company focused on investing in and supporting growing UK businesses and helping their management teams to achieve long-term success. Headquartered in central London, the firm listed on the London Stock Exchange’s Main Market in June 2021, before gaining Investment Trust status on 1 April 2022. The £40m NAV RCF will be used to refinance existing debt, as well as provide additional capital and flexibility for Literacy to continue making new investments and to support the existing portfolio.
The transaction marks OakNorth’s third fund finance deal completed in recent months, including a subscription line to leading private equity firm, Palamon Capital Partners and a capital call facility to returning customer and private equity real estate investor, Paloma Capital.
Commenting on the new debt facility, CEO of BOOK’s investment manager, Richard Pindar, said: “We are pleased to agree a new debt facility for the fund, which will support Literacy and its investment activity over the medium term to continue delivering leading NAV performance and shareholder returns. We are encouraged by the large number of high-quality founder-led businesses in the UK and we continually appraise these new investment opportunities. Mohith Sondhi and the OakNorth team once again showed their expertise and knowledge of the UK’s fund finance market, which meant their speed of execution was unlike that of any other lender we’ve worked with previously.”
Mohith Sondhi, Senior Director of Debt Finance at OakNorth, added: “Literacy and OakNorth continue to share the same values in terms of supporting UK growth businesses, and we’re thrilled to be able to once again help Literacy continue their own growth story. OakNorth’s fund finance offering, covering everything from capital call facilities, hybrid facilities, liquidity facilities, and NAV financing, is going from strength to strength, with this latest transaction being the perfect example of this. The facility will give Literacy the financial firepower to act quickly, and secure future investment opportunities and we look forward to supporting both Paul and Richard Pindar on more transactions moving forward.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About OakNorth
Launched in September 2015, OakNorth is the digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs, empowering the lower mid-market (businesses with £1m-£100m turnover) to support growth, prosperity, and innovation for the benefit of all.
Since its launch, the bank has:
- Lent over £11bn to these businesses, directly helping with the creation of 40,000 new jobs and 29,000 new homes across the UK;
- Provide deposit services to over c.285,000 savers.
It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Visit www.oaknorth.co.uk for more information.
Media contact
Tom Pavey-Smith, Associate Director, Growth & Communications – [email protected] / [email protected] / 0791 716 5588