Nylacast expands globally following £12M funding deal

Nylacast is a manufacturer of high-performance engineering polymers and supplies finished components to the oil and gas, offshore, food, packaging, pharmaceutical, construction and mining sectors in the UK and globally. The business, which has an annual turnover of 29 million, is headquartered in Leicester with further manufacturing facilities in South Africa and the US. Nylacast has built up a strong list of clients, including Mercedes, Nexteer and Ford in the automotive sector, BP and Shell for oil and gas, and JCB and John Deere for construction.

Due to strong customer demand from automotive clients in China, a decision was made to set up a new factory in China to service local and regional customers. The funding from Santander will enable the business to open a new site in Changshu, which will go live in early 2016. This factory has already enabled Nylacast to secure new contracts and, with the Chinese passenger car market forecast to grow at 7 per cent per annum and by 2020 will have a global market share of 25 per cent, Nylacast will be well positioned to benefit from strong growth in the Chinese market. The factory will also enable the firm to expand into other sectors such as oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, construction and mining in the key Chinese market.

The new factory will create over 60 new jobs in the first year in China, with further significant growth expected by 2020. In the UK, Nylacast expanded by 30 people in 2015, with another 30 jobs expected to be created in the firm's domestic market as it increases its capabilities and expands into new sectors.

Mussa Mahomed, Chief Executive, Nylacast Ltd, says: "Santander has a niche understanding of the manufacturing sector which provided us with an affinity and understanding about how to drive the business forward. The new factory in China creates a route to market whereby we can cater for our increasing demand as well as anticipate opportunities in other sectors."

Simon Clewlow, Associate Director, Santander Structured Finance, comments: "This was a complex, cross-border transaction which required us to work closely with the Nylacast management team over an extended period of time to structure a tailored funding solution. The manufacturing expertise of our local relationship team via involvement of Relationship Director Paul Elliott, coupled with our strong international capabilities, played a key part in helping us to understand the complexities of funding into China and deliver a suitable solution to the shareholders of Nylacast.

"Nylacast has developed into a leading brand in its sector thanks to the long-term foresight of the management team. The firm is clearly poised for further growth and we are delighted that Santander has been able to support the business at this key time."

For more information about Nylacast please visit www.nylacast.com.