Bibby to lose brand presence following acquisition

Scottish Pacific Business Finance finalised its acquisition of Bibby on 31 December, with the combined business now employing almost 300 staff, handling approximately $10 billion of annual sales and providing some $700 million of funding to clients.

Speaking to Mortgage Business, Scottish Pacific CEO Peter Langham said the Bibby brand “will have to disappear” in Australia and New Zealand over the next six months because the Bibby group still offers facilities in other jurisdictions around the world.

“Customers have still got access to the facilities they’ve always had – we’re now just a much bigger organisation,” he said. “And all other Bibby-branded operations will continue to run as per normal.”

Asked why the group decided to complete the acquisition, Mr Langham said Bibby has a number of business products and services that Scottish Pacific did not have expertise in, “so it compliments what we’re already doing”.

“We already had a very strong offering as a working capital lender for SMEs, and now we can provide an even more comprehensive funding alternative for small businesses looking to grow, whether domestically or overseas,” he said.

Looking ahead, Mr Langham said Scottish Pacific’s focus for 2016 will be to continue the products and level of service that it has historically provided, invest in business improvement ideas and research other ways to satisfy the demands of SME borrowers.

He also didn’t rule out the possibility of an ASX listing.

“That’s something that we may or may not look at down the track, but we’ve got enough on our plate right now,” he said.

[Related: Scottish Pacific receives global recognition]