Challenger bank Judo signs with Credit Suisse to meet demand
(26 November 2018 – Australia) To meet the surging demand from “credit-starved” small businesses, SME lender Judo has signed a $350 million debt facility with Credit Suisse.
The deal comes just eight months after opening in Melbourne and only two months after opening an office in Sydney.
Co-chief executive David Hornery, who founded Judo with former NAB business bank boss Joseph Healy, said the senior debt facility would allow the lender “to leverage that equity and provide funding to small business”.
The SME lender characterises itself as a “challenger bank” but unlike many other banks, Mr Hornery said Judo was not a fintech company.
The co-founder said the bank’s selling point was not its technology, but its close relationship with business clients, which Mr Hornery said was “business banking as it used to be.”
Judo has yet to get its banking license but expects it to be granted in December.
Credit Suisse's debt investment follows an equity investment by Credit Suisse Asset Management in the first round of capital raising.
Credit Suisse Australia's head of debt capital markets, Will Farrant, said Judo had "a high-quality management team and a scalable business model".
Subscribe