Bowmark Capital, the mid-market private equity firm, has made a significant investment in Lendscape, a technology provider to the global secured commercial finance market.
Bowmark will support Lendscape’s continuing investment in innovative technology solutions for this growing sector of the financial market and help the company expand organically and by acquisition.
Lendscape’s software and technology underpin the secured lending offerings of over 120 banks and financial institutions worldwide. Its platform supports the management of over US$200 billion of lending annually, ensuring the fulfilment of the complex operational, reporting, data and security requirements of commercial lenders, spanning invoice, supply chain and asset finance.
Founded in 1972, Lendscape has attained a leading market position through its proprietary technology, high quality service offering and deep market knowledge. The company has also consistently innovated to meet the growing global demand for secured lending as finance providers scale and digitalise their operations.
Tony Davison, the company’s founder and chairman, said: “Having built Lendscape into a leading global software provider over the last five decades, we are uniquely positioned to continue our strong track record of growth. Bowmark shares our vision for the business and, with their help and support, we will accelerate our plans for innovation and increase our global reach, bringing advanced technology solutions to more secured finance providers worldwide.”
Tom Shelford, partner at Bowmark, commented: “Lendscape is a technology leader with an outstanding reputation for service excellence and technical expertise, and a track record of double-digit revenue growth. We look forward to working with the team to support the company’s next stage of growth through investment in product development, international expansion and strategic acquisitions.”
Kevin Day (pictured), Lendscape chief executive, said: “Bowmark’s investment will help us to shape the future of commercial lending and enable providers to keep pace with customers’ evolving needs. As demonstrated by our new, cloud-native asset finance solution, technology can lift the administrative burden and improve efficiency, as well as giving finance providers the flexibility to scale their operations and tailor products for their customers.”
Steve Taplin commented, "Economic instability, high inflation and rising costs are all contributing to growing demand for alternative financing products that can help SMEs to manage cashflow, such as asset finance. Meanwhile, disruptive technologies and approaches such as enhanced API integration and embedded finance are transforming lending models, making it possible to deliver more customer-centric commercial finance. It’s an exciting space and there’s huge value to be unlocked in addressing the global SME funding gap, which explains some of the investment activity we’re seeing across the industry.
"Having enjoyed decades of success and growth, we felt that the time was right to capitalise on additional investment in order to accelerate our plans. Bowmark shares Lendscape’s vision for delivering technology and innovation that addresses market challenges and enables our clients to deliver great lending experiences for their customers – fuelling our own success and growth."
Global deals advisory firm Alantra acted as lead adviser to management during the transaction.
