Post by pikestaff on Dec 9, 2015 9:09:13 GMT
ThinCats announced yesterday that they have a new majority shareholder, ESF Capital
www.thincats.com/blog/greater-resources-for-thincats-follows-esf-taking-majority-stake/
ESF www.esfcapital.com/ is a newco related to ESO Capital www.esocapital.com/ but it has some institutional funding as well.
The takeover is quite widely reported, see eg
www.altfi.com/article/1580_esf_capital_acquires_controlling_stake_in_thincats
www.privateequitywire.co.uk/2015/12/08/234567/esf-capital-sme-secured-lending-platform-thincats and
www.crowdfundinsider.com/2015/12/78444-thincats-acquired-esf-takes-majority-stake-as-new-ceo-appointed/
It has been known since the ThinCats conference in July that a takeover was on the way, although lenders had been expecting ESO to buy existing shares amounting to 51% of the company. It is reported that ESF has taken 73.4%. The additional stake probably means that ESF has put some new capital into the business.
I see the announcement as very positive and I think the platform risk is much reduced. They are clearly serious about growing the platform and broadening the range of investors. This will include institutions but we have been assured that ThinCats remains committed to its sponsor model and to its private lenders.
ThinCats has long been my favourite platform despite its faults. It now has the resources needed to grow and to serve lenders properly, and we have already begun to see some improvements with the website now functioning at an acceptable speed.
One thing to note is that the planned switch to REBS software has been abandoned. It was clear at the conference that the IT people brought in by ESO did not like the plan but felt they had to run with it. Now it's gone. It's not clear whether this is because ESO/ESF decided it was critical for ThinCats to own the software, or because they could not make the migration work. Perhaps a bit of both. Anyway, they are now going to develop and improve the existing system.
www.thincats.com/blog/greater-resources-for-thincats-follows-esf-taking-majority-stake/
ESF www.esfcapital.com/ is a newco related to ESO Capital www.esocapital.com/ but it has some institutional funding as well.
The takeover is quite widely reported, see eg
www.altfi.com/article/1580_esf_capital_acquires_controlling_stake_in_thincats
www.privateequitywire.co.uk/2015/12/08/234567/esf-capital-sme-secured-lending-platform-thincats and
www.crowdfundinsider.com/2015/12/78444-thincats-acquired-esf-takes-majority-stake-as-new-ceo-appointed/
It has been known since the ThinCats conference in July that a takeover was on the way, although lenders had been expecting ESO to buy existing shares amounting to 51% of the company. It is reported that ESF has taken 73.4%. The additional stake probably means that ESF has put some new capital into the business.
I see the announcement as very positive and I think the platform risk is much reduced. They are clearly serious about growing the platform and broadening the range of investors. This will include institutions but we have been assured that ThinCats remains committed to its sponsor model and to its private lenders.
ThinCats has long been my favourite platform despite its faults. It now has the resources needed to grow and to serve lenders properly, and we have already begun to see some improvements with the website now functioning at an acceptable speed.
One thing to note is that the planned switch to REBS software has been abandoned. It was clear at the conference that the IT people brought in by ESO did not like the plan but felt they had to run with it. Now it's gone. It's not clear whether this is because ESO/ESF decided it was critical for ThinCats to own the software, or because they could not make the migration work. Perhaps a bit of both. Anyway, they are now going to develop and improve the existing system.
