The owner of a bridging lender has refinanced £200 million of loans with bankers Barclays, Santander UK and Yorkshire Bank.
Fred Done, the principal shareholder of bridging lender Goldentree Finance, has agreed the £200 million facility for his betting chain Betfred Group.
The deal has also attracted M&G Investments as a new member of the banking syndicate.
It comes two years after Warrington-based Betfred’s £265 million acquisition of state-owned bookmaker the Tote.
The group said it had already repaid its acquisition facilities, including an early repayment of the £115 million deferred consideration from the Government.
Chairman Fred Done said: “I am delighted to have secured this arrangement with Barclays, Santander UK, Yorkshire Bank and particularly pleased to have M&G Investments as a new partner.”
Finance director Barry Nightingale said: “The commitment and pricing offered by the syndicate highlights a refreshingly strong appetite for corporate loans from the region’s banks buoyed by new lenders to the market."
The group - by turnover the biggest in the region - grew revenues by 19 per cent to £8 billion, while EBITDA surged 30 per cent to £69 million in the year to the end of March. After breaking even last year, the group made a pre-tax profit of £23 million.
Development bridging lender Goldentree was established in 2001 and the principal shareholder is Fred Done, the owner of Betfred.
Sixty-five per cent of the lender’s business is currently involved in development finance, with the remaining 35 per cent in bridging finance.
In 2010/2011, Fred and Peter Done pumped £25 million into the bridging lender and last year also saw Goldentree complete its move into a new HQ.
In September 2013, the company announced it made a pre-tax profit of £3 million in the year to the end of March and that its loan book stood at £50 million.
At the time, Managing Director Steve Marsh said: "The business has steadily grown over the last three years and has been funded privately by Fred Done. In the finance business if you loan more money and get the lending right you make more profit.
"So the increased profit is a result of the increased size of the loan book and bigger funding source."
By Jason McGee-Abe
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