New finance deal for Polestar

Polestar has refinanced with new credit facilities from Barclays and a £90m senior secured loan from Swedish finance house Proventus Capital Partners.

The refinance was connected to the £239m-turnover group’s recent change of capital structure, which will allow it to pay a dividend to owner Sun Capital Partners.

Proventus raised €1.3bn (£930m) for its third fund, Proventus III, at the end of last year. It is understood to have worked with Sun before on some of the private equity house’s other investments.

At the time, Proventus chief executive Daniel Sachs said: “We are well placed to address funding needs that are not suitable for traditional sources of credit. Over time, the best return on our investments will come from assisting companies in making the most of their business opportunities.”

The firm focuses on development capital for mid-size companies in Northern Europe, typically over a three-to-six year period with a bullet repayment at the end of the term.

The Polestar loan has a six-year term and is at the top end of Proventus’ usual loan size, which generally ranges from €10m-€100m. 

Separately, Barclays is providing Polestar with a £25m revolving credit facility.

Polestar chief financial officer Peter Johnston said the new arrangement “provides additional liquidity to the group” and would allow a dividend to be repaid to Sun.

The new finance replaces Polestar’s junior legacy lenders, which included Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan, and the two senior lenders GE Capital and Close Invoice Finance.

Polestar is in the process of completing its £50m reinvestment in new Goss International web presses at its Sheffield site, along with the consequent restructuring and closure of other facilities.