Leeds’ Reward Finance Group provides funds for Uvenco in debt forgiveness deal

Reward Finance Group, the Leeds-headquartered alternative lender, has provided funding to help AIM listed vending machine business Uvenco UK PLC complete a near £1.5m debt forgiveness deal with its existing bankers.

Uvenco UK operates vending machines from three major depots in the UK, as well as the brands Drinkmaster and Snack-in-the-Box, their In-Cup and Franchising businesses. The largest depot of the vending operations is at Greenbank Business Park in Blackburn.

Uvenco UK PLC changed its name from Snacktime PLC in May 2016 to showcase its relationship with Uvenco Group, the largest vending machine business in Russia.

Reward has provided a total fund £1.365m by way of a traditional Confidential Invoice Finance facility with additional leverage against other balance sheet fixed assets.

This has enabled Uvenco UK PLC to pay its existing bankers £1m in full and final settlement of its near £2.5m of debt, as well as providing additional working capital to assist with its turnaround strategy.

The £16m turnover business has had a variety of issues in recent years but wholesale changes, including the appointment of a new FD and the CEO from the Uvenco Group, are all part of a wider plan to restore the business back to former glories.

Sergei Kornienko, CEO of Uvenco UK PLC, said: “We are indebted to Reward for the speed with which they were able to help us maximise the one off opportunity that our existing bank gave us.

“This will provide us with a significant further step towards the reshaping of our balance sheet”.

David Jones, joint managing director at Reward, said: “Reward specialise in being able to move quickly and to being able to help businesses take advantage of opportunities. This deal is a big positive to Uvenco’s shareholders.

“Sergei and the revised management team continue to rapidly make big improvements to the Uvenco UK businesses which gave us the confidence to support them on this transaction”.