REG - Rothschilds Contin Paragon Grp Co PLC Rothschilds Contin. - Sale of Rothschild & Co's Asset Finance Business <Origin Href="QuoteRef">PARA.L</Origin> <Origin Href="QuoteRef">RCHA.L</Origin>

Paragon BankingAnnouncement

02/10/2015 07:00

RNS Number : 0338B
Rothschilds Continuation FinancePLC
02 October 2015
Press Release
Paris, London 2 October 2015
Sale of Rothschild & Co's asset finance business
Rothschild & Co (formerly Paris Orlans) announces that it has entered into an agreement to sell its UK asset finance business, Five Arrows Leasing Group Limited ("Five Arrows Leasing"), to Paragon Bank PLC ("Paragon Bank") for a consideration of approximately 117 million (c.159 million). The transaction is expected to complete by 3 November 2015.
The sale is in line with Rothschild & Co's strategy to focus on its three core businesses: Global Financial Advisory; Wealth and Asset Management; and Merchant Banking. The Five Arrows brand is not included in the sale.
Rothschild & Co acquired the original business in 1996 and has successfully created a group of specialist companies serving niche asset financing markets. Five Arrows Leasing provides print, broadcast, construction and other equipment finance and asset-based lending in the UK to small and medium-sized enterprises and leases vehicles to local authorities. For the year ended 31 March 2015 Five Arrows Leasing generated net banking income of 28.5 million (36.4 million) and statutory profit after tax of 8.1 million (10.3 million). At 31 March 2015 it had net assets of 42.9 million (58.9 million).
We expect the transaction to result in an exceptional accounting gain of approximately 90 million. The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes and for investing in the growth of our core businesses.
Nigel Higgins and Olivier Pcoux, Co-Chief Executive Officers of Rothschild & Co, said:
"Five Arrows Leasing has been part of Rothschild & Co for nearly 20 years. During that time we successfully created a leading UK asset finance company that now serves more than 2,600 customers. We believe, however, that now is an appropriate time to sell Five Arrows Leasing given the focus on our core businesses: Global Financial Advisory; Wealth and Asset Management; and Merchant Banking. We are delighted that Paragon Bank is to acquire the business. We believe Paragon Bank will be a great home for the business and its employees and the transaction represents an exciting opportunity to maximise Five Arrows Leasing's future growth potential. We would like to thank the Five Arrows Leasing team for their hard work and dedication to Rothschild & Co over the years and wish them well in the future."
Rothschild & Co's Global Financial Advisory business acted as financial adviser to Rothschild & Co on this transaction.
[ENDS]
Financial calendar
 24 November 2015 after market close
Results of the first half-year of FY 2015/2016 
 11 February 2016 after market close
Publication for the third quarter of FY 2015/2016
 22 June 2016 after market close
Results of the financial year 2015/2016 
About Rothschild & Co (formerly Paris Orlans)
Rothschild & Co operates in the following areas: 
 Global Financial Advisory provides advisory services for mergers and acquisitions, debt financing and restructuring, and equity capital markets;
 Wealth & Asset Management, and
 Merchant Banking which comprises third party private equity and private debt business and proprietary investments.
Rothschild & Co is a French partnership limited by shares (socit en commandite par actions) with a share capital of 142,274,072. Paris trade and companies registry 302519228. Registered office: 23 bis avenue de Messine, 75008 Paris, France. Rothschild & Co is listed on Euronext in Paris, Compartment A - ISIN Code: FR0000031684.
Rothschild & Co shares are PEA-PME eligible 
About Paragon Group
The Paragon Group of Companies PLC is a leading UK specialist buy-to-let lender and consumer finance group. It is a FTSE 250 company with over 10 billion of assets and has serviced over 1.5 million customers. Paragon Bank PLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Paragon Group of Companies.
Contact:
Public relations / Investor relations 
Press and Media
Kim Nicholson
kim.nicholson@rothschild.com
Tel. : +44 20 7280 5422
Marie-Laure Becquart
marie-laure.becquart@rothschild.com
Tl.: +33 (0)1 53 77 65 10
www.rothschildandco.com
France
DGM Conseil +33 1 40 70 11 89
Michel Calzaroni 
m.calza@dgm-conseil.fr
Olivier Labesse
labesse@dgm-conseil.fr
United Kingdom
Smithfield +44 20 7360 4900
John Kiely
jkiely@smithfieldgroup.com
Alex Simmons asimmons@smithfieldgroup.com

This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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