What next for new partners ASK and OakNorth Bank?

In October 2022, ASK and OakNorth Bank announced a corporate transaction whereby OakNorth acquired a 50% stake in ASK.

The transaction has cemented a long-standing and successful working relationship

The companies have worked closely for five years, completing many transactions together
Both share a desire to delight and deliver for customers
Both have flexible approaches to funding and are agile with an entrepreneurial approach
Both are at different points in the capital stack which creates a great synergy and no competition between their sets of capital

To discuss the rationale behind this transaction and how they plan to navigate the challenging economic times as partners, Daniel Austin, ASK’s CEO and Co-founder, and Ben Barbanel, OakNorth Bank’s Head of Debt Finance, hosted a webinar for clients and investors.

Here are some of their responses to key questions raised during the webinar:

What next for new partners ASK and OakNorth Bank?

What were the drivers behind the transaction for each party?

Ben: “It enables us to continue to deliver for all of our clients because as a regulated bank, we’re never going to be the most aggressive lender. Having an alternative capital set available to us, enables us to offer our entrepreneurial customers different capital structures beyond just senior debt. It allows us to offer more than just a regular bank.”

We are currently facing very challenging economic headwinds. What is your outlook for the sector?

Ben: “Everything we are facing at the moment is making the market incredibly challenging. However, successful entrepreneurs always find a way and adversity brings opportunity. There are experienced professionals who have seen these cycles before and market turmoil often enables the best to rise to the top.”

What is your appetite for lending in the current climate and do you expect to see a reasonable flow of opportunities?

Ben: “We use our forward-looking scenarios as a barometer for credit risk and if those scenarios are met then we will lend. We’re looking for well thought out and rational projects and the credit committee is still seeing a healthy flow of decent opportunities.”

To watch a recording of the webinar, please click here