You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles
Goldman Sachs-backed modular firm secures £15m loan from Homes England
TopHat has taken a £15m loan from Homes England as it works towards opening a new factory next year.
The Goldman Sachs-backed modular firm announced yesterday it has secured the debt facility through Homes England’s Levelling Up Home Building Fund.
The fund offers development loans, typically with a five-year term, for house builders that “struggle to access finance through traditional bank lenders”, according to Homes England’s website.
TopHat has secured the loan against its assets, according to a Companies House filing.
The interest rate on the funding was not disclosed.
READ MORE
The news comes six months after it was revealed that FTSE 100 house builder Persimmon and insurance giant Aviva had acquired undisclosed stakes in TopHat. Persimmon invested £25m and Aviva £20m, while Goldman Sachs completed a total fundraising round of £70m.
At the time, TopHat said Homes England, which has funded its development at Kitchener Barracks in Chatham, Kent, was looking at offering “additional support”.
It comes amid a troubling period for the category one modular sector following the collapse of Ilke Homes and Legal & General’s withdrawal earlier this year.
Jordan Rosenhaus, chief executive of TopHat, said in a press release: “Following some recent, well-publicised challenges, which will always be faced by pioneering, innovative sectors, I am especially pleased that our investors have all recognised the critical importance of expanding the capacity of the sector.”
Peter Denton, chief executive of Homes England, said the loan will “significantly increase the delivery capacity of the MMC sector as a whole in the UK”.
TopHat’s new 650,000 sqft factory in Corby, Northamptonshire is expected to open next year and employ around 1,000 people, according to the firm.
The facility will have the capacity to produce around 4,000 homes a year, TopHat said.
In its last reported full year, TopHat Industries, which produces the group’s modular homes, posted widening pre-tax losses of £20.4m after rising costs.
Last month, Carl Leaver, chair of TopHat, told a Lords committee that there was “zero chance” of the government’s 300,000 homes a year target being hit without modular housing.
The government’s Affordable Homes Programme, which Homes England oversees, has a target that 25% of homes delivered through strategic partnerships must be built using modern methods of construction.
Sign up for our development and finance newsletter
Already have an account? Click here to manage your newsletters
