International law firm CMS has advised ThinCats1, on its £160m strategic investment from Wafra Capital Partners (WCP), a New York-based investment management firm. CMS also advised ThinCats’ management team, led by Amany Attia and Ravi Anand, in relation to the investment.
ThinCats is a leading alternative finance provider to mid-sized small-medium enterprises (SMEs) and has lent almost £1bn to UK SMEs over the last few years. WCP’s investment will support ThinCats’ continued expansion through both larger loan sizes and new product development to scale up its volume of lending.
Following its investment, WCP will become a significant minority shareholder in ThinCats. WCP partnered with Quilam Capital on the transaction.
Rob Willis, CMS Corporate/M&A partner, comments: “We are delighted to have advised ThinCats and its management team on this important strategic investment. Mid-sized SMEs are set to play an important role in delivering economic growth across the UK and WCP’s investment will support ThinCats’ plans to fund these businesses. Having worked with ThinCats since 2015, it is fantastic to see the company start this exciting new chapter with WCP as its partner.”
Amany Attia, CEO, ThinCats, comments: “We are delighted to announce this significant investment by WCP, reinforcing their belief in our business. We would like to thank the CMS team for their invaluable advice and support throughout the process.”
The CMS team was led by partners Rob Willis and Charles Kerrigan, assisted by Stephen Kilshaw, Jas Randhawa and Alexander Bouchier (Corporate); and Fiona Henderson and Cameron Milne (Finance). CMS partner Peter Lewis led on management equity aspects, assisted by Andrew Quayle, Ben Booker, Mala Patel and Greg Moreton-Smith (Corporate).
1 ThinCats is the trading name of ESF Capital Limited and its subsidiaries.
