CME Limited secures £600,000 loan from Allica Bank for MBO




Allica Bank and Blaise Commercial Finance have completed a £600,000 commercial mortgage for CME Limited to enable it to continue its expansion plans.

The funding — agreed over a 20-year repayment term — helped CME’s senior management team to complete a debt-funded management buyout, purchasing the business from the Mear family, who founded the firm in 1983.

This will enable CME to continue its product development strategy and rapid expansion, as the firm has grown at an average rate of 20% in recent years due to securing significant new contracts within the pharmaceutical, food and beverage and legal cannabis sectors in more than 130 countries.

Danny McMurdo, business development manager for the South West at Allica Bank (pictured above), said: “We are delighted that we could support CME with its MBO.

“It is a fantastic Somerset business with ambitious growth plans, just the type of business Allica Bank wants to help support, especially when many of the banks are tied up operationally with servicing emergency Covid loans. 

“We look forward to watching their business move from strength to strength.”

Paul Knight, CEO at CME, commented:  “When approaching other lenders, there seemed to be a ‘one size fits all’ approach; however, Allica was far more flexible and understanding of us as a business and our financial needs. 

“While other lenders told us we were naïve for even trying to source this deal,  Blaise Commercial Finance and Allica made the effort to recognise our potential.” 

Julian Stevens, director at Blaise Commercial Finance, added: “Whereas other corporate finance advisers and banks were unable to provide the necessary funding, Allica was transparent and flexible in what they required and was able to work collaboratively with the management team and other stakeholders to complete the deal.”

Allica Bank is set to exceed its target of £500m in committed SME loan offers this year. 

It recently increased its commercial mortgage maximum loan size from £3m to £5m and maximum asset finance loan from £250,000 to £500,000.

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