Time Finance has agreed a £55.13m cash takeover by Bentley Park, the parent company of Ultimate Finance, in a deal that would create a specialist UK SME lender with a combined net loan book approaching £650m.
The recommended offer values each Time Finance share at 59.1p. That represents a 12.6% premium to the AIM-listed lender’s closing price of 52.5p on 14 August, as well as premiums of 23.5% and 27.5% to its three-month and six-month volume-weighted average share prices respectively.
The transaction is expected to be implemented through a court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement. Time Finance’s directors have unanimously recommended the offer, while Bentley Park has secured irrevocable undertakings covering around 47.36% of the company’s issued ordinary share capital.
Subject to shareholder, regulatory, and court approvals, the acquisition is expected to become effective during the fourth quarter of 2026.
Time Finance provides asset finance, invoice finance, and business loans to SMEs across the UK. Ultimate Finance operates across similar areas of the specialist lending market and had an unaudited net loan book of £430m at the end of June.
Combining the businesses would give Bentley Park substantially greater scale in a fragmented market where specialist lenders compete on underwriting speed, product flexibility, broker relationships, and their willingness to finance companies that do not fit standardised bank lending criteria.
Josh Levy, chief executive of Bentley Park and Ultimate Finance, said: “We believe Time Finance is a strong strategic fit for Ultimate Finance”.
The strategic rationale is closely tied to scale. A larger lending book can spread technology, compliance, funding, and administrative costs across a wider customer base while supporting further investment in digital onboarding, credit decision-making, broker systems, and product development.
The enlarged business would also carry a greater volume of credit exposure. Specialist lenders still have to manage arrears, customer concentration, collateral values, sector risk, and the cost of their own funding, particularly when smaller borrowers are operating against uneven demand and higher employment or input costs.
Invoice finance, asset finance, and business loans can become more important during those periods because they allow companies to preserve cash while continuing to fund operations or investment. Invoice finance releases working capital tied up in unpaid customer invoices, while asset finance allows businesses to spread the cost of equipment, vehicles, and machinery.
That places specialist lenders in a different part of the market from providers focused primarily on long-term corporate debt or consumer credit. Their performance is closely connected with the financial health of SMEs and the willingness of smaller businesses to continue investing through uncertain trading conditions.
The transaction also adds to consolidation across non-bank finance. Banks, fintech lenders, private-credit providers, and specialist asset and invoice-finance businesses are competing for borrowers seeking alternatives to conventional overdrafts and term loans.
Funding Circle’s recent £500m SME lending commitment provided another indication of the institutional capital being directed towards the sector.
For Time Finance shareholders, Bentley Park is offering cash rather than equity in the enlarged group, providing an immediate route to crystallise value. The board’s recommendation reflects both the premium being offered and its assessment of the strategic fit with Ultimate Finance.
Bentley Park, meanwhile, gains a faster route to additional scale than building the same loan book organically. The acquisition would also bring established broker relationships, an existing workforce, and additional lending capabilities into the wider group.
Execution now shifts to the transaction process. Time Finance will publish the detailed scheme documentation before shareholders vote, while Financial Conduct Authority and court approvals will also be required before ownership can transfer.
If completed on the proposed terms, the acquisition will bring two established specialist lenders under the same ownership and create a materially larger platform competing for UK SME finance.
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