Russell-Cooke's corporate and commercial team has advised specialist agricultural bank Oxbury on its Series C investment round which raised £20 million. Following completion of the first part of this investment round Oxbury was authorised to launch its banking products to the public.
Oxbury is a specialist bank focused on the British agricultural sector and lends only to farmers and the rural community. It is the first dedicated agricultural bank to enter the UK market in nearly a century.
This latest injection of funds comes from investors including Frontier Agriculture, Hutchinsons and Wheatsheaf Group, the international food and agriculture investment arm of the Grosvenor Estate.
The Russell-Cooke team was led by partner Guy Wilmot assisted by associate Emily MacDonald, et al. The team had previously helped Oxbury with its Series B fundraising in January 2020, which was a key step in securing its banking licence from the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the Bank of England's regulator for financial services firms.
Oxbury CEO James Farrar said: “We are here to shake things up. 70% of agricultural lending is still controlled by the Big Four. Oxbury’s goal is to capture 5% of that market by 2025. Thanks to Russell-Cooke we are a step closer to this goal.”
Partner Guy Wilmot said: “We are delighted to represent an innovative client like Oxbury. The agricultural banking space is dominated by the Big Four and so it is great to see a specialist enter the market at last. The fact that this young, new bank attracted investment from such significant industry investors is telling of the trajectory it is on. We look forward to seeing what’s next for Oxbury.”