Lloyds invests in, takes board seat at TruFin's Satago

TruFin announced on Wednesday that, following the commercial pilot first announced in December 2020 and a competitive tender process, Lloyds Bank has confirmed its intention to licence Satago's software platform for its single invoice finance and whole-of-book invoice factoring customers.

The AIM-traded firm said Satago and Lloyds had signed a letter of intent, and were working towards finalising a commercial agreement in the coming months.

It also announced that, ahead of signing such an agreement, Lloyds had today completed an investment of £5m of new equity capital in Satago, at a pre-money valuation of £20m.

TruFin had agreed to vary the terms of an existing £3m loan to Satago so that it was convertible into equity capital in Satago, at the same valuation as the Lloyds investment or, if a further funding round took place, the valuation implied by that.

Assuming conversion based on the £20m valuation, and assuming Lloyds did not subscribe for its pro rata entitlement to shares, TruFin would hold 68% of Satago on a fully-diluted basis.

In addition, the company announced that Ben Stephenson, managing director and head of solutions at Lloyds Commercial Banking, would be appointed to the board of Satago.

“We are very proud that Satago has been selected as the vendor of choice for the provision of single invoice finance and whole-of-book invoice factoring services by Lloyds Bank,” said chief executive officer James van den Bergh.

“We welcome the bank as a shareholder in Satago, and are excited about the value that Satago will create through this landmark commercial and strategic partnership.

“We continue to believe there is meaningful value to be unlocked from our portfolio of companies and thank shareholders for their ongoing support.”

At 1357 GMT, shares in TruFin were up 8.75% at 87p.