Greensill Receives $250m Funding from General Atlantic
(24 July 2018 - Australia) Working capital financier Greensill Capital has secured US$250 million in minority investment funding from General Atlantic, a prominent New York based private equity organisation.
The investment values Greensill at US$1.64 billion. Founded in 2011, Greensill commenced operations as a supply chain finance provider for corporates who commonly enter into contracts with suppliers for terms of one to three months following a transaction for goods and services. This funding gap can lead to working capital constraint, limiting liquidity for cash strapped small businesses. Greensill's financing enables suppliers to access their funds immediately inexchange for a fee that is usually under one percent of the full amount, collecting the full value of the invoice from the large company.
Greensill has since expanded into other working capital product lines and sources capital against deposits with its German owned bank,, the sale of bonds comprised of invoices it has purchased and bundled together as well as four proprietary supply-chain finance funds managed by Credit Suisse and Global Asset Management. Greensill reported an annual profit for the first time in 2017, logging earnings of $32.9 million on revenue of $115.9 million. "Today, almost all working capital is provided by banks. We're using technology to make it possible for small companies to get funded at rates that would otherwise have only have been available to much bigger companies." stated Lex Greensill, CEO of Greensill who ran Morgan Stanley and Citibank’s global supply chain finance divisions before founding the business in 2011.
Greensill plans to expand into General Atlantic’s most established markets including ‘BRICS’ nations China, India and Brazil. and to find ways to support more customers.General Atlantic is renowned for investing in the Fintech space including a stake in Ant Financial Services Group and successful Dutch payment-tech company Adyen NV. Former British Prime Minister David Cameron is notably considering a role with Greensill however no final decision has been made according to a spokesman for Mr. Cameron.
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