United Trust Bank Asset Finance completes complex £625,000 refinance

United Trust Bank (UTB) Asset Finance has successfully completed a complex £625,000 refinance deal, enabling the acquisition of a coach operating business by an expanding transport company.

The transaction was initiated by Mike Austin, Director at Crystal Business Finance, who approached Paul Barter, Business Development Manager at UTB, on behalf of his client – a successful coach operator looking to acquire another business in the sector. To raise the necessary funds, the client aimed to refinance part of their existing fleet and, unusually, also refinance several coaches owned by the business they intended to acquire.

Rob Irving, UTB’s roving Asset Finance Underwriter for the North of England, underwrote the deal. The transaction was subject to detailed due diligence, including satisfactory valuations and proof of title on seven vehicles – an aspect that presented significant challenges due to incomplete documentation and missing invoices. However, close collaboration between Crystal and UTB ultimately resulted in an acceptable resolution.

Once all conditions were met, UTB transferred the funds directly to the client’s solicitor. In return, the solicitor issued a letter of undertaking confirming the funds were held to UTB’s order. Upon completion of the business acquisition, the solicitor disbursed the funds to the vendor and provided confirmation back to UTB.

“This wasn’t a straightforward case,” said Mike Austin. “But I talked to Paul Barter at UTB and he quickly confirmed that they would be able to do it.

“Once our client was ready to go ahead, Rob Irving completed the underwriting and UTB’s Operations team completed all the admin, processing and arrangements with the solicitors to enable my client’s acquisition to proceed.”

Paul Barter added: “We pride ourselves on being able to take on more complex deals which benefit from direct communication with our underwriters from the start.

“Thanks very much to Mike for giving us the opportunity to show what UTB are capable of and for the excellent support we received from him and the Crystal team in getting this deal over the line.”