Allia C&C – one year on

In March 2019, Allia completed its acquisition of a majority stake in London-based fixed income broker City & Continental (C&C) – expanding its Impact Finance arm of the business through enhanced services and financial solutions.  It later rebranded Allia Impact Finance as Allia C&C, helping to unite the two sides of the business.

In the space of one year, Allia C&C has arranged over £350 million to help charities, impact organisations and corporates with development projects and other activities.  This includes over £300 million arranged through corporate bonds, ORB listed bonds and Retail Charity Bonds; and over £50 million arranged through the Scottish charitable bond programme which generated an additional £20 million as a grant fund for the Scottish Government.

This takes the overall amount arranged in Allia’s 21-year history to over £0.7 billion – supporting a range of sectors such as housing, care, education, real estate and alternative lending.

Speaking of Allia C&C’s journey, Adrian Bell, Chief Executive of Allia C&C, said: “We are delighted to have started operations on such a positive note – eight major financings completed in the public markets with five loans to Scottish Housing Associations under the Scottish charitable bond programme. It establishes Allia C&C as one of the leading experts in raising Social Impact funding in the UK from Institutional and retail investors.”

Breakdown of significant lending arranged since 1999:

Retail Charity Bonds
Total arranged: £213.5 million (plus £59.5 million in retained bonds)
Allia designed Retail Charity Bonds to make it easier and more affordable for charitable organisations to raise unsecured fixed-rate finance through bonds listed on London Stock Exchange.

• £58.5 million – via two bonds for Hightown Housing Association in 2015 and 2017, which will help the charity provide high-quality homes to homeless people and those who cannot afford to rent or buy at market rates. Both bonds closed early.
• £50 million – Greensleeves Care raised £33 million in one week in 2017, with a further £17 million of retained bonds sold in 2019, and is being used to support more elderly people who require residential care.
• £25 million – the fastest-selling Retail Charity Bond, the Dolphin Living bond in 2017 raised the full amount in just one day, money that will be used to build and develop more affordable homes for working Londoners.
• £20 million – for Charities Aid Foundation in 2016, money which will be used to enhance services for charities and donors. This bond closed early after just four days.
• £25 million – via two bonds for Golden Lane Housing in 2014 and 2017, along with the sale of £4 million retained bonds in 2019. Both bonds will be used to fund the building of more specialist properties for people with learning disabilities.
• £35 million – for Belong in 2018, the second care organisation to raise funds through this platform, and is being used to develop further Belong villages for elderly and dementia care.

Scottish charitable bonds
Total arranged: £132.2 million
The unique programme, using Scottish Government investment, provides unsecured loans for the development of new affordable housing in Scotland.

22 loans have been issued since 2015 to 16 different housing associations, including:

• £12 million, Blackwood Homes in 2020
• £13 million, Angus Housing Association in 2020
• £16 million, Wheatley Group in 2018
• £15.2 million, Kingdom Housing Association via three loans in 2016, 2017 and 2018
• £4.6 million, Ayrshire Housing Association via two loans in 2015 and 2019

The loans have generated a total of £49.2 million in interest which has been converted into a grant fund for the Scottish Government to provide donations to housing associations to fuel further affordable housing development.  This has so far benefited 12 housing associations.

Corporate and ORB Listed Bonds
Total arranged: £283.1 million
These financial solutions were added to Allia C&C’s offering as part of the acquisition of C&C, providing greater access for organisations to the capital markets.

• £40 million – Aster sold two retained bonds at £20 million each in 2019 and 2020
• £78.1 million – IPF through an exchange offer and sale of new securities in 2019
• £15 million – LendInvest sold their retained bonds in 2019
• £35 million – Richmond Housing Partnership (RHP) sold retained bonds in 2019
• £5 million – Charity Bank raised subordinated debt in 2019
• £110 million – Bruntwood through an exchange offer and new issue in 2020

Charitable Bonds & Community Bonds
Total arranged: £28.3 million
13 charitable bonds & three mini bonds have been issued over the years, including:

• £5.9 million – North East Bonds, supporting around 3,000 long-term unemployed and promoting enterprise across the region
• £2 million – Sheffield Bonds, funding local construction schemes and helping people into employment
• £2.5 million – East London Bonds, supporting a number of community regeneration and employment programmes.
• £360,000 – Welsh Coalfields Bond, promoting regeneration in former coalfields communities