Ashurst has advised BillEase on an up to US$20 million debt facility arranged by Singapore-based Helicap Securities. BillEase is an on-demand credit and finance platform based in the Philippines which provides financial services including buy now, pay later (BNPL), as well as personal loans, e-wallet top-ups, prepaid loans and gaming credits.
The facility is a significant achievement for BillEase which was able to collateralize their loan book to access funding, and will be used to expand the company's loan portfolio as well as to develop and launch new products.
This transaction is part of a series of debt and equity facilities raised by BillEase; they first raised US$11 million through a Series B equity round in January this year with participants including MDI Ventures and BurdaPrincipal Investments. This was followed in March by a US$20 million financing facility provided by Lendable, a UK-based emerging market credit provider, which was advised by the same team at Ashurst.
The Ashurst team was led by partner Jean Woo. She was assisted by associate Leonard Lim.
The Ashurst Singapore banking & finance team has advised on a number of transactions in the fast-growing consumer lending sector in recent months, including having recently advised Citibank on the establishment of a USD 100 million securitisation facility, collateralised by SME loans originated by Validus (Southeast Asia's leading SME growth financing platform) in Singapore.
