AURELIUS Finance Company supports National Timber Group with GBP 35m super-senior ABL facility
London, January 14, 2025 – AURELIUS Finance Company, the Private Debt segment of AURELIUS, is pleased to announce the completion of a GBP 35m super-senior asset-based lending facility for National Timber Group (NTG). This complex, highly tailored ABL facility will replace NTG’s existing bank RCF, whilst providing significant incremental liquidity and enhanced flexibility. This will deliver increased working capital to support expected growing demand for timber.
The additional liquidity generated by the facility will increase working capital headroom as the company delivers on its growth plans. During its structuring, the team at AURELIUS Finance Company worked collaboratively with key stakeholders to create a complex and highly bespoke inter-creditor agreement to regulate the facility, alongside the existing term debt.
As is typical for a structure delivered by AURELIUS Finance Company, the facility creates the optimum level of availability by fully funding the working capital collateral base which comprises receivables and inventory across the company’s impressive national footprint.
James Marler, Director and Head of New Business at AURELIUS Finance Company commented:
“This is a landmark transaction for AURELIUS Finance Company as it demonstrates our ability to provide highly bespoke facilities of scale, at pace, for solid mid-market companies navigating complex scenarios. We were impressed by the strength of NTG’s underlying business, the quality of its management team, and by the support it has from its stakeholders. Based on this, we were determined to structure a super-senior facility which would deliver the liquidity and flexibility the business needs to realise its growth ambitions. By listening to the requirements of all key stakeholders, we were also able to tailor a highly bespoke inter-creditor agreement to facilitate the refinancing. As a team, we enjoyed the technical challenges involved in creating this structure, which we can now use to support other businesses facing similar sets of circumstances. We are delighted to welcome National Timber Group to our business.”
Emma Cunningham, CEO of National Timber Group said:
“AURELIUS Finance Company demonstrated clear enthusiasm to partner with us and to provide this financing solution, quickly crafting a term sheet which met all our key objectives from this refinancing exercise. The team then demonstrated the skills needed to meet the technical challenges of this transaction against tight deadlines. We were especially pleased that the facility which was put in place was exactly what had been outlined in the initial term sheet. This ability to deliver on the initial brief is absolutely vital in complex, fast-paced transactions. We look forward to continuing to build on our strong partnership with the AFC team.”
National Timber Group is the largest independent timber distribution and processing group in the UK. The company was formed through the acquisition of market-leading brands Thornbridge, NYTimber, Rembrand Timber and Arnold Laver. It has two main sales channels: timber merchanting and manufacturing. As a result, it serves a diverse customer base including joiners, housebuilders and contractors, and is a preferred supplier for large-scale infrastructure projects. The Group generates an annual turnover of more than GBP 300m, and has over 1,200 employees and 52 processing and distribution sites from the North of Scotland to London and the South West.
AURELIUS Finance Company was advised by Shoosmiths (Legal), and Gordon Brothers (Asset Appraisals).
