Merchant Money raises £115m #

Barclays Bank and a new partner, Quilam Capital, have given £115 million to the UK business lender Merchant Money.

Merchant Money will use the new senior financing facilities to add more secured and unsecured loans to its portfolio.

Merchant Money thinks it is in a good position to increase its share of the small and medium-sized business (SME) finance market, even though “challenging market circumstances” have caused many traditional banks and alternative lenders to pull back.

In the past few months, the company has added 15 people to all of its departments, started open banking, and made a new broker portal available.

Sean White, who is in charge of securitized products at Barclays, says that the new Merchant Money vault will help the company grow in the UK SME market.

Jonathan Stern, co-founder and CFO of Merchant Money, noted that the money comes from both senior and junior capital. Using this opportunity, they have already funded their first deals.