The UK’s leading interest-free-only credit partner DivideBuy has secured
over £60m of equity investment and debt financing from prominent private
equity investors and UK banks including Paragon.
Investment will support DivideBuy
to continue to develop market leading technology and leverage it as a
lender. It also supports the growth of the company’s retailer network,
allowing many more consumers access to a transparent, flexible and easy way
to spread the cost of their shopping using interest free credit.
Paragon’s Structured Lending team was involved with arranging part of a
debt facility that also involved Souter Investments, family investment
office of Sir Brian Souter and Jon Moulton, through his family office.
It is the latest deal for Paragon’s Structured Lending team, which has
already supported fintech firms Paybreak and Duologi to grow their
activities, along with SME lender Liberis, as part of an overall £57.5
million funding package to support UK small businesses and protect an
estimated 100,000 jobs by 2020.
Founded in 2014 and based in Stoke-on-Trent, DivideBuy is on target to have
over one million customer account holders by the end of 2019. The company
currently has partnerships with over 400 retailers across a broad range of
sectors and it aims to grow its market share significantly over the coming
months.
DivideBuy’s system enables retailers to pick and choose which products they
offer credit on with sales landing instantly in existing order systems. The
DivideBuy integration updates retail partners’ inventory and links into
warehouse management systems, meaning retailers do not need to change any
of their normal operational practises.
The focus is not just on converting low risk credit applications, but also
creating sector first products, such as a guarantor solution designed to
allow consumers with an emerging credit profile the ability to spread the
cost of their purchases.
Robert Flowers, Co-founder and CEO of DivideBuy said:
“DivideBuy has one overarching goal; to make interest free credit easy and
accessible to both retailers and consumers. Whether it be developing the
application to work seamlessly with assistive technology or giving
consumers the flexibility to log in to their account to change a payment
date. DivideBuy has focused on delivering technology and solutions that
enhance the experience of our users and we will continue to do so.”
Lewis Fitzsimons, Senior Director in Structured Lending at Paragon,
said:
As a wholesale senior debt provider, we have been supporting fintech
firms, like DivideBuy, to grow their business and ambitions to develop
their technology and solutions further in what is an exciting market.
DivideBuy will use the investment to continue to develop its product
offering including enhancements to its offline solution, customer
experience and innovative after care products.
22 March 2019