Bournemouth: First Capital Finance acquired by Star Asset Finance

First Capital Finance, the Bournemouth-based commercial-asset-finance business, has been acquired by Star Asset Finance which is part of Star Capital Partners, a leading European fund manager. 

Founded in 2001, First Capital has successfully established itself as one of the leading independent providers of asset-and-vehicle finance in the south, acting as a principal lender offering financing packages ranging from £1,000 to over £1 million per transaction.  

The company provides finance facilities for any business asset including machinery, commercial vehicles, cars, fork-lift trucks, catering equipment, office furniture and fit-outs. First Capital also provides commercial loans, factoring and invoice discounting.  

Last year First Capital advanced in excess of £32m. Its owners and directors: Richard Perry, David Mogg and Darren Venton had for some time been looking for a strategic partner to make further growth possible. With its acquisition by Star Capital, First Capital is set to provide significantly more funding both to local SMEs and those beyond the south. 

All the directors and staff will remain with the company, and there are plans to recruit more staff.

It is the vision of Star Capital to build a UK-wide asset-finance platform which will offer a broader range of funding products at competitive rates. First Capital will join Star Capital as one of four similar recent acquisitions, and it is now on target to advance in excess of £120m in 2016. 

First Capital was assisted by Alex Bilionis and the corporate team at Lester Aldridge LLP, and by Warren Munson, Chris Downing and the advisory team at Inspire Professional Services. Lester Aldridge was selected because of its reputation and expertise in the finance and banking sector. Inspire has been First Capital’s accountants for the past 10 years and has also grown considerably during this time.