Blend Network secures £120 million funding line

By Bridging Loan Directory 11th April 2022

Market-leading and award-winning specialist development finance lender Blend Network has secured £120 million committed capital from a consortium of large family offices to significantly boost its lending capability and further support mid-size property developers in the UK.

This strong show of support in the form of committed capital to be deployed by Blend reflects the company’s rapid and consistent development since its establishment in 2018 and its strong track record.

It is also a clear recognition among investors of an urgent need for liquidity among mid-sized housebuilders across the UK.

The capital committed comes from six large family offices, illustrating how Blend has heavily invested in digitising its lending process for institutional investors and family offices, which now make up more than 90% of the company’s funding base.

Blend also has some notable business and finance figures as longstanding investors. These include Publicis Groupe Chairman Maurice Levy, OakNorth Bank Chairman and former Barclays Vice Chairman Cyrus Ardalan, former Glencore executive Nico Paraskevas, and Jean-Philippe Blochet, co-founder of Brevan Howard, one of the world’s largest macro hedge fund that at its peak managed $40bn.

The fresh funding will be deployed to further scale Blend’s loan book, following the company’s recent “Origination-as-a-Service” initiative, which includes full security, transparency, and an enhanced due diligence process carried out on all loans.

Global law firm Ashurst advised Blend on this transaction as well as on recent equity investment round.

Yann Murciano, CEO of Blend Network, commented:

“Obtaining a record £120 million committed funding line from such a respected group of family offices is a landmark moment for us and illustrates how much progress we have made as a business in a relatively short time and how our funding is now much more focused on institutional investors.

This fresh funding line will allow us to not only boost our origination capability significantly but also widen the breadth of services that we offer property brokers to assist them in sourcing attractive lending opportunities.

Overall, it allows us to offer greater support to help mid-sized residential property developers across the UK boost their lending capacity, which will in turn make a greater contribution to solving the country’s housing crisis.”

Jonathan Cohen, Partner at Ashurst, commented:

“We really enjoyed supporting the Blend team in securing this committed capital, and we look forward to working alongside them in the next phase of Blend’s exciting growth “