The Right Call for 20:20 Mobile

Crédit Agricole Commercial Finance structures £30M Asset Based Lending Facility

20:20 Mobile Group was created in September 2006, following the sale by the Caudwell Group of its distribution and logistics businesses to Doughty Hanson, one of the foremost private equity firms in Europe. The Group is now one of Europe's leading mobile handset distributors and in the top three, globally. Today, it is also the world's largest distributor of mobile phone accessories. The company has more than 8,000 active customers and annual sales of £1 billion. Following a significant corporate restructuring, the Group sought a facility to refinance part of its existing syndicated facilities and also to fund future expansion and contacted Crédit Agricole Commercial Finance.

Paul Thompson, a non-executive director of 20:20 Mobile Group comments: "This was a commercially driven transaction and we needed our choice of working capital financier to reflect this approach. The team worked hard to gain a thorough and detailed understanding of our business objectives and there were no issues throughout the transaction, even though this was a complex deal with a number of syndication partners involved."

Crédit Agricole Commercial Finance structured and delivered a £30,000,000 Asset Based Lending facility, which has created greater flexibility than existing bank funding lines would allow. This has given 20:20 Mobile a strong platform for business growth. In respect of legals, Walker Morris acted for Crédit Agricole Commercial Finance, Lovells for the existing syndicate to 20:20 Mobile and Skaddens for 20:20 Mobile.

Peter Considine of Walker Morris comments: "The approach taken by Crédit Agricole Commercial Finance made the deal possible. I found working with the team enormously rewarding because they approached everything with a practical, flexible and 'can do' attitude, always with a view to delivering the right deal for their customer. Not only did the team address complex technical issues but they also met the requirements of the bank syndicate head on. Crédit Agricole Commercial Finance’s ‘client-first’ philosophy drives their business thinking and this, combined with a pragmatic and flexible approach to deal-making, has led to them being regarded as a market leader in the provision of Asset Based Lending services."