Firm bought for £2m

A CARDIFF-BASED finance company that was only founded seven years ago has been snapped up in a £2m deal.

Intelligence Financing, which trades as Intelligent Loans, generated more than £1.5m of commission income last year and had pre-tax earnings of £400,000.

The firm, based at the Maltings on East Tyndall Street, was founded by directors Alun Winter and Robert Coles.

Financial facilities firm 1pm plc has agreed to acquire Intelligent Financing for up to a maximum of £2m.

With the deal now finalised, this has seen £1m paid in cash and £200,000 in 1pm shares.

A further cash payment of up to £800,000 could be made if the business hits performance targets.

Both Mr Winter and Mr Coles have agreed to continue to run the business.

Bath-based 1pm plc has a stock market valuation of around £31m and a track record of strong growth.

Cardiff-based firm Lexington acted as advisers on the deal.

In 2016, Lexington advised on more than £25m of transactions.

Greenaway Scott of Cardiff acted as legal advisor to Intelligent Financing for the sale.

The joint directors of Intelligent Financing said: “As part of the enlarged group we will be able to accelerate our growth, not only through crossselling opportunities, but by benefitting from the elevated profile and the added security and transparency that comes from being part of a listed company.”

Gary Partridge, managing director of Lexington, said: “We are delighted to have supported Alun and Rob through the process of selling their business to 1pm plc.

“This marks a culmination of their hard work building the business over the last seven years and as part of the enlarged business, their Intelligent Loans business will continue to grow and offer 1pm plc the opportunity to fund selective loans to growing businesses on its own balance sheet.

“Lexington are supporting a number of businesses to help them realise value and move to the next stage of their development and we hope to be able to announce further deals shortly.”