Europcar has signed a funding agreement with Lombard, the asset finance arm of the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Lombard has supported Europcar’s UK operation by providing £150m out of a total committed £425m funding facility, as the company looks to complete the early refinance of their existing three-year facility.

The new funding agreement, which was required for Europcar’s fleet of 50,000 vehicles in the UK, will run for three years until October 2017, with the option to extend for a further two one-year periods to October 2019.

Gary Smith, finance director at Europcar UK, said: “In refinancing we wanted to extend the term of the funding deal and look at the most cost effective way of doing it.

“When the existing funding facility of £160m was established in 2012 we were in a different place but now, with positive market conditions and improved financial performance, we have been able to move to a new facility and the associated benefits that brings.

“We’ve had a strong relationship with Lombard for some time and they were very happy to discuss and share ideas. While 2014 has been a fantastic year, we continue to grow turnover and the stable vehicle funding platform we now have in place will underpin our future growth plans.”

Doug Seal, director in Lombard’s strategic fleet finance team, worked closely with Europcar to help get the facility in place.

He said: “We understood and then delivered on Europcar’s objectives - namely co-ordinated funding on common terms that supports their vehicle funding requirements in the longer term – and were delighted to be able to help put this facility in place.”

 

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