1pm completes acquisition of Tracx Finance

Following its previous announcements on 18 May and 7 June, 1pm announced on Thursday that, following admission to trading on AIM of the 28,861,117 new ordinary shares upon markets opening, the acquisition of Tracx Finance had now completed.

The AIM-traded firm said Tracx Finance was the holding company and 100% shareholder of its trading subsidiary Gener8 Finance Limited.

1pm said it was “pleased to welcome” the Gener8 team to the group, and was excited by the prospects of the group's newly-established commercial finance division.

Following the completion of the acquisition, Edward Rimmer was appointed to the board of the company on Thursday as the managing director of the commercial finance division and CEO of Gener8 Finance.

Rimmer brought more than 20 years of experience in commercial finance, the 1pm board said, most recently acting as UK CEO of Bibby Financial Services.

The company also announced that, following admission, the purchases of ordinary shares by certain existing directors as part of the placing, as announced on 18 May, had now completed.

“The successful fundraising to finance both the acquisition of Tracx Finance and the possible second acquisition, together with the establishment of our new commercial finance division, under the leadership of Ed Rimmer, whom I am delighted to welcome to the board, together represent important milestones in the ongoing growth and development of the group,” said 1pm CEO Ian Smith.

“They demonstrate the implementation of a key element of the group's stated strategic plan which is to continue to expand our offering to UK SMEs by adding adjacent financial products and services which are complementary to our existing asset finance and business loans portfolios and which also create significant cross-selling opportunities.”