HSBC Leveraged Finance Completes Refinance of Trustmarque Solutions

HSBC Leveraged Finance has completed a refinancing of UK-based Trustmarque Solutions. This marks a new banking relationship for Trustmarque following the recent management buyout supported by UK mid-market private equity firm Dunedin.

PRESS RELEASE

HSBC Leveraged Finance has completed a £19.5 million refinance of Trustmarque Solutions. This marks a new banking relationship for Trustmarque following the recent £43 million management buy-out supported by Dunedin, the UK mid-market private equity firm.

This follows one month after Dunedin backed the £43 million buyout of Trustmarque, in a deal that saw Dunedin employ its trademark DebtBridgeTM solution in order to ensure deliverability and certainty of debt funding for the company. This is the fifth deal in which Dunedin has used its DebtBridgeTM product.

HSBC’s team was led by Tom Green, Director, with support from James Scholes, Associate Director. HSBC was advised by Eversheds’ Partner Kathryn Walters and Associate Paul Chanter on the transaction.

The transaction is the third for HSBC’s Leveraged Finance team in Leeds in recent weeks; the team has also supported ISIS Equity Partners’ investment in global specialist recruitment company Nigel Frank International and backed LGV Capital’s Liberation Group in its acquisition of six iconic Channel Island pubs.
Trustmarque has been in operation for over 25 years and provides technology and related services to over 1,200 clients including leading financial and retail institutions, systems integrators Capita, Fujitsu and Cap Gemini, the NHS, Ministry of Defence and a broad spectrum of local authorities and central government agencies.
Trustmarque is the leading supplier of software and consulting services to the UK Government and was the first reseller of Microsoft’s products to achieve Gold licensing status, a title that is reserved for their most trusted and successful partners. Its professional and consultative services enable organisations to optimise their IT resource, improve efficiencies and reduce costs.
The business employs 180 people at three sites in York (HQ), Bracknell and Edinburgh and recorded revenues of over £130 million for the year ended 31 August 2012. Dunedin’s investment will enable Trustmarque.

HSBC Leveraged Finance Director Tom Green said: “Trustmarque is a market-leading business with an excellent reputation and service offering for both the commercial and public sectors. Management are of the highest calibre and having built a relationship over the last 18 months, we are now looking forward to supporting the next phase of growth under their leadership. Dunedin’s DebtBridge™ solution provided the vendors with certainty of funding and we are pleased to be able to complete the refinance within only a few weeks of their original investment.”

Dunedin Partner Mark Ligertwood said: “Our DebtBridging solution enabled us to get the initial deal done quickly without having to wait for bank debt finance, and then we were able to secure optimal terms for the company following completion. We’d like to thank Livingstone’s experienced Debt Advisory team who efficiently delivered an excellent senior debt package, on the best terms, within a month of completing the acquisition, refinancing our DebtBridgeTM. HSBC have demonstrated a strong commercial understanding of Trustmarque and the ambitions of the management team having tracked the business for some time.”

Trustmarque Finance Director Vicky Godliman added: “The HSBC team was able to provision a banking facility that will fully support the needs of the business as we enter the next phase of our development. Tom Green and the team were supportive throughout the process, taking the time to gain knowledge of the manner in which the business operates to ensure that the deal they proposed was an excellent fit for Trustmarque.”

Dunedin’s investment in Trustmarque follows three strong exits and the £34.5 million management buyout of Premier Hytemp, all of which have been completed by Dunedin during the last twelve months. Dunedin has also completed a total of seventeen portfolio acquisitions since 2011.

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For further information please contact:
Michael Clarke,
HSBC Commercial Bank Media Relations Manager
Direct: 07920413672
Email: mike.j.clarke@hsbc.com
Twitter: @HSBCUKBusiness

Or Equity Dynamics:
Corinna Osborne – Direct: +44 (0) 203 651 2151/ Mob: +44 (0) 7825 326 440
Emily Weston – Direct: +44 (0) 203 651 2153/ Mob: +44 (0) 7825 326 442

For the latest updates, visit the UK Business Press Office social media newsroom:
http://www.newsroom.business.hsbc.co.uk

Notes to Editors:

HSBC Bank plc: HSBC serves 16.1 million customers in the UK and employs approximately 52,000 people. In the UK, HSBC offers a complete range of personal, premier and private banking services including bank accounts and mortgages. It also provides commercial banking for small to medium businesses and corporate and institutional banking services. HSBC Bank plc is a wholly owned subsidiary of HSBC Holdings plc.

HSBC Holdings plc
HSBC Holdings plc, the parent company of the HSBC Group, is headquartered in London. The Group serves customers worldwide from around 6,600 offices in 81 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, North and Latin America, and the Middle East and North Africa. With assets of US$2,693bn at 31 December 2012, the HSBC Group is one of the world’s largest banking and financial services organisations.

About Dunedin
Dunedin is a UK mid-market private equity investor targeting buyouts of market leading companies in the UK with a deal size of £20m to £75m. Dunedin typically invests £20m or more in its portfolio companies.

Dunedin focuses on a number of sectors, using its depth of knowledge to understand the market drivers and to build relationships with management teams, key industry participants and influencers. The firm has enjoyed particular success in the industrial, business services and financial services sectors, completing seventeen portfolio acquisitions since 2011 in order to drive the growth and internationalisation of its investee businesses.

Located in Edinburgh and London, Dunedin has a new investment team comprising sixteen investment professionals with approximately 200 years of private equity experience between them.

Dunedin LLP is a limited liability partnership authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.