White Oak Global Advisors, LLC on behalf of its institutional clients, announced that White Oak has agreed to expand its asset-based lending platform to serve clients in the U.K. and Europe through the acquisition of LDF Group, a U.K.-based finance company providing asset finance, business loans, commercial mortgages and education leases to small and middle-market companies. Established in 1986, LDF is an industry leader and one of the largest independent finance providers for small businesses in the U.K.
“Europe represents a large opportunity for White Oak, and we are excited to grow our presence and activity in the region by welcoming LDF into the White Oak family,” said White Oak CEO, Andre Hakkak. “LDF has been on an incredible growth trajectory, completing over £500 million of financing to small businesses across the U.K. in 2017 alone, and we are confident that the business will continue to grow with the backing of White Oak.”
In acquiring LDF, White Oak will have over 22,000 active loans across 10,000+ direct clients in the U.K. SME market, a national sales force in excess of 100 personnel across a variety of channels, a position in the market where it is recognized as one of the major non-bank providers of SME capital and a fully functional platform in the SME lending space incorporating headquarters in Ewloe, Wales and four additional offices across England and Scotland: Stewarton, Manchester, London and Southampton. Together, LDF and White Oak will provide small businesses and underserved middle-market companies across the U.K. with financing solutions to support their growth and working capital needs.
White Oak is pleased to welcome the senior leadership of LDF led by Managing Director, Peter Alderson, and all 220 members of the LDF team and believes their expertise will allow White Oak to achieve further success and scale in the U.K. both through delivering new working capital products and developing their business in the European market.
“LDF will continue to provide the same level of support and service to its clients under the same model, now backed by more resources to deliver more financing, products and opportunities to entrepreneurs and small businesses throughout the U.K.,” said Alderson. “It also gives us the opportunity to look to the wider European market to develop our reach and presence. We are delighted to have found in White Oak a partner that shares our values and our keen focus on client success.”
“This is the first step to expand the White Oak platform in the U.K. I am excited to welcome such accomplished professionals in LDF to White Oak and expand our business across Europe,” said White Oak Head of Europe, Tom Otte. “As economies continue to grow, there is an increasing need for the types of financing we provide to help smaller companies achieve their next evolution of growth.”
“Peter and the LDF team have done a tremendous job building the business to the size, scale and capability that it is today, and it has been a pleasure working with them over the last 5 years. We look forward to seeing the business continue to go from strength to strength under White Oak’s leadership,” said Richard McDougall, Partner at Cabot Square Capital LLP. The transaction is subject to regulatory approval from the UK's Financial Conduct Authority and is expected to complete within the next few months.