Wellesley Mini-Bond Hits £25M

Wellesley equals Jockey Club with the second largest UK corporate mini-bond.

Series 2 opens with rates of up to 8% (gross) per annum.

Wellesley aims to become the UK’s largest issuer of corporate mini-bonds.

Wellesley Finance Plc has closed Series 1 of its corporate mini-bond – the Wellesley Mini-Bond – which is one of the largest ever on the UK market having raised £25m since its launch in July 2014.  The Series 1 Wellesley Mini-Bond was not expected to close until the end of Q1 2016, but the combination of attractive interest rates and Wellesley’s asset-backed lending model has proven exceptionally popular with investors.

Following the success of Series 1, Wellesley has now opened Series 2 of the Wellesley Mini-Bond which aims to raise up to a further £50m.  Offering interest rates of 7%, 7.5% and 8% (gross) per annum, paid twice a year, for a fixed term of 5, 6 and 7 years respectively, Wellesley believes that its Series 2 Wellesley Mini-Bond is an attractive offer for Britain’s savvy investors.  The minimum investment per holder of Series 2 Wellesley Mini-Bonds is only £100, and thereafter in multiples of £10.

The proceeds of the Series 2 Wellesley Mini-Bond will be used to provide additional operating capital which will be used to fuel further growth of the Wellesley Finance property lending business. To date, Wellesley Finance has originated loans of over £280m to property developers in the UK with an outstanding loan book of £228m, and currently holds security over £348m of property assets.

The Series 1 Wellesley Mini-Bonds have contributed to funding Wellesley Group’s progression, and helping Wellesley & Co be the fastest growing P2P provider in the UK.*  At the end of this Series 2 investment round, Wellesley Finance is expected to become the UK’s largest issuer of corporate mini-bonds.

Wellesley & Co has a unique business model, designed to make Peer-to-Peer lending straightforward. Wellesley Group places its own funds first into every loan it makes and retains a subordinated right to the loan security to that of its lenders (and therefore takes first loss).  The Wellesley & Co platform automatically spreads its entire loan portfolio over all lenders on its platform, automatically re-running this process on a weekly basis as new loans are funded. The management believes that these factors, combined with the overall quality of governance and risk management, make Wellesley a high quality investment proposition within the alternative finance industry.

Graham Wellesley, CEO & Chairman said: “We are thrilled by the enthusiasm with which our existing Peer-to-Peer investors have embraced the Wellesley Mini-Bond.  We reached the maximum figure for investment of £25m in the Series 1 Wellesley Mini-Bond well ahead of schedule, highlighting the appeal of our unique asset-backed model. The rising volume of funds and increasing size of the business are testimony to Wellesley’s leading position in the market.

“We expect the Series 2 of the Wellesley Mini-Bond to attract those from outside the Peer-to-Peer market, in that it gives investors an opportunity to invest, via the Wellesley Mini-Bond, in a non-listed business that offers returns of up to 8% gross per annum, paid in cash.”