< p>A specialist lender is set to launch an array of new products this year as it finalises a new JV partnership.

Ortus Secured Finance (OSF) is set to reveal a collection of new products this year as it finalises a new JV partnership.

Ortus Secured Finance, which was launched in March 2013 by the founders of Ortus Capital, has continued to improve its reputation in the pub and commercial property lending sector after an impressive first nine months of lending.

The lender’s focus on the leisure industry meant December was one of its biggest ever months, completing over £5 million of new loans.

Ortus Capital, the authorised FCA corporate boutique, which launched in 2010, has advised on and arranged over £250 million of funding for lending, distressed debt and private equity transactions.

After Ortus Capital advised and arranged both debt and equity financing for Red Oak Taverns in obtaining 32 freehold pubs, word soon spread, and it was being approached with new enquiries.

Recognising the difficulty in obtaining finance from high street banks, and with a number of Ortus Capital’s own clients already seeking direct funding from the firm, Ortus Secured Finance was born in order to best use the expertise available to its founders.

A specialist lender is set to launch an array of new products this year as it finalises a new JV partnership.

OSF have started 2014 off strongly and the relatively new lender is already aiming to build a loan book of around £50 million by the end of the year.

In November 2013, OSF appointed a Head of Sales, Jon Salisbury, to further enhance its links with brokers.

OSF, which will pass its first anniversary in the market in Q2 this year, occupies a genuine niche in the leisure space, but is also capable of more traditional property-backed bridging finance.

The lender is currently in talks to sign a Joint Venture (JV) partnership to assist with a new asset-backed bridging product, which B&C understands will be substantially higher than the lender’s current maximum loan size.

Richard Beenstock, Managing Director of Ortus Secured Finance, said: “It will mean we will have the resources and funding to consider larger transactions - some of our core strengths are that we are genuinely well funded, able to react quickly to meet client needs and have great repeat business as a result.”
 
Case Studies

Some of Ortus Secured Loans’ deals have consisted of hotels, pubs, and a nightclub. But the outfit also facilitates funding in other areas, such as residential and commercial bridging. Ortus has completed on a number of deals, including:

- A £600,000 loan with security over key money value in leases: The borrower operates a chain of restaurants in central London, with a focus on super-prime locations. OSF’s in depth knowledge of the London restaurant sector meant it was able to take a commercial deal on an unconventional security. A £3.5 million senior debt facility for a borrower was looking to raise debt to acquire a portfolio pub;

- A £400,000 loan on a buy to let flat in an affluent part of London, the borrower was an offshore entity

- A £360,000 loan for a borrower with a pub and a flat on the first floor. OSF advanced £300,000 to refinance their existing debt and released an extra £60,000 to convert the accommodation into two flats; and

- A complex £3.75 million bridge over a diverse property portfolio.

Ortus Secured Finance currently offers loans from £100,000 up to £5 million and provides loans all across the UK. Rates start from 0.75 per cent and the lender offers LTVs of up to 75 per cent.