Move aims to boost challenger bank’s small business finance offering
Challenger bank Shawbrook has entered into an agreement to acquire ThinCats, a specialist lender focused on providing tailored funding to established and growing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK.
Upon completion, ThinCats will become part of Shawbrook’s portfolio of brands, with the deal expected to accelerate the bank’s growth within the specialist SME lending sector.
The transaction, which is set to complete later in 2025, will see Shawbrook take on a projected loan book of approximately £700 million and risk weighted assets of around £600 million. The group anticipates that, in the first full financial year following completion, the acquisition will increase earnings per share and provide a strong return on invested capital.
ThinCats, headquartered in Birmingham, operates across the UK. Shawbrook is based in London, with offices in Brentwood, Manchester and Birmingham.
“ThinCats is a leading UK fintech with an excellent track record for delivering bespoke funding to growth-focused SMEs, whose owners, management teams and sponsors value speed, flexibility and certainty,” said Marcelino Castrillo (pictured top), chief executive of Shawbrook. “ThinCats' approach is aligned to our own strategy of leveraging technology, credit excellence and an entrepreneurial culture to deliver a premium proposition to established UK SMEs.
“This acquisition will serve to further scale-up and deepen our presence in the very large and growing SME market. As part of the Shawbrook Group, the ThinCats proposition will benefit from our platform, including distribution channels, investment and funding structure, which will allow us to scale the brand more efficiently and serve even more UK SMEs with highly tailored funding solutions.”
For Amany Attia, chief executive of ThinCats, becoming part of Shawbrook “represents an exciting step for ThinCats and a strong endorsement of our model, supporting established and growth-focused SMEs.”
“Underpinned by the significant technology, data and capital resources of the wider Shawbrook Group, ThinCats will continue to offer the high levels of coverage, innovation, service, and ongoing borrower relationships that business owners, professional advisers and financial sponsors have come to expect,” Attia said.
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