Specialist lender Together completes £200m securitisation

Together, one of the UK’s leading specialist loan providers, has completed its first small balance commercial mortgage backed securitisation.

The £200million Together Asset Backed Securitisation. 2021 – CRE1 plc is supported by a portfolio of first and second charge mortgages secured against small value commercial, residential and mixed use properties in England, Wales and Scotland.

It is the first transaction of its type in the UK since the global financial crisis of 2008 and complements the specialist finance group’s four public residential mortgage backed securitisations and four private securitisations.

Gerald Grimes, Together’s group CEO designate, said: “We are delighted to announce the successful completion of our £200 million small balance commercial real estate mortgage backed securitisation (MBS).

“The issuance adds further headroom as we continue to support UK businesses and shape our business for an exciting future.”

Marc Goldberg, commercial CEO at Together, said the latest securitisation has “increased diversification” in the lender’s funding streams and would “provide further support for small businesses who will play an important part in the UK’s recovery from the coronavirus crisis.”

He said: “This is our third successful public transaction since the pandemic began, following our £500 million bond issuance in January and our £366 million residential mortgage backed securitisation in July.”

In February, Together, which is based in Cheadle, Greater Manchester, announced its results for the quarter to December 31, 2020, reporting a 70.6% growth in average monthly originations on the previous quarter to £74.4 million. The lender’s closing loan book stood at £3.9 billion, and quarterly profit before tax at £38.2 million.

Citibank and HSBC acted as joint arrangers and were accompanied by Barclays and Natixis as joint lead managers for the commercial mortgage backed securitisation.