Daily rental firm Europcar has announced it has agreed a funding agreement with Lombard, the Royal Bank of Scotland’s asset finance arm.
Lombard will provide £150m out of a total committed £425m funding facility, in response to Europcar’s request to complete the early refinancing of their three-year facility.
The funding agreement was required for the firm’s fleet of 50,000 vehicles in the UK. It will run for three years until October 2017 with an option to extend it for a further two one-year periods until October 2019.
Europcar said it would benefit from reduced interest costs and longer-term visibility through the funding. The remaining sum is coming from three other providers.
“In refinancing we wanted to extend the term of the funding deal and look at the most cost effective way of doing it,” said Gary Smith, finance director, Europcar UK.
“When the existing funding facility of £160m was established in 2012 we were in a different place but now, with positive market conditions and improved financial performance, we have been able to move to a new facility and the associated benefits that it brings,” said Smith.