Member Article

Europcar receives £150 million funding agreement to expand UK fleet

Vehicle rental company Europcar has laid the foundations to minimise costs and ensure the longer-term financing of its fleet via a funding agreement with Lombard, the asset finance arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Europcar, which has its UK based in Bushey, Hertfordshire, has received £150 million out of a total committed £425 million funding facility from Lombard, in response to the company’s desire to complete the early refinance of their existing three-year facility.

The new funding agreement, which was required for Europcar’s fleet of 50,000 vehicles in the UK, will run for three years until October 2017, with the option to extend for a further two one-year periods to October 2019.

Lombard’s Strategic Fleet Finance team engaged with colleagues across the business and at a wider level in RBS to ensure that the transaction process was managed in a swift and efficient manner.

Gary Smith, finance director at Europcar UK, said: “In refinancing we wanted to extend the term of the funding deal and look at the most cost effective way of doing it.

“When the existing funding facility of £160 million was established in 2012 we were in a different place but now, with positive market conditions and improved financial performance, we have been able to move to a new facility and the associated benefits that brings.

“We’ve had a strong relationship with Lombard for some time and they were very happy to discuss and share ideas. While 2014 has been a fantastic year, we continue to grow turnover and the stable vehicle funding platform we now have in place will underpin our future growth plans.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .