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  • 📈 Lenkie Fills the £22B Funding Gap

📈 Lenkie Fills the £22B Funding Gap

Rolls-Royce: From Survival to Stock Market Star

March 04, 2025

This is Cliff Equity, the UK’s business newsletter that keeps you informed on what’s important in tech, business and finance in less than 5 minutes

In today’s stories:

  • Lenkie Fills the £22B Funding Gap

  • Rolls-Royce: From Survival to Stock Market Star

  • Private Equity Serves $1bn Tennis Bid!

The summary: As banks retreat, Lenkie is stepping up with fast, flexible funding that keeps UK SMEs thriving, cutting out the financial faff and fuelling the next wave of growth.

The details:

  • Banks are bolting, Lenkie is banking on SMEs – With a £22 billion funding chasm left by retreating banks, Lenkie has swooped in with a £49 million war chest to shake up SME financing.

  • Funding that flexes, not frustrates – Unlike sluggish traditional loans, Lenkie’s real-time, transaction-based model funds supplier payments upfront, keeping cash flow crises at bay.

  • Tech meets trust – Armed with proprietary underwriting and real-time data, Lenkie slashes approval times and ensures SMEs get the capital they need, when they need it.

  • Scaling the SME revolution – With fresh capital in hand, Lenkie is doubling down on smarter lending, bigger partnerships, and breaking new ground to fuel the UK’s next wave of entrepreneurs.

Why it matters: When banks shut their doors to SMEs, growth stalls, jobs hang in the balance, and innovation takes a back seat—Lenkie is keeping the engine running. By injecting fast, flexible funding where it’s actually needed, they’re swapping red tape for real-time support, ensuring businesses can scale without the usual financial faff. The result? More thriving SMEs, fewer cash flow nightmares, and a UK economy that keeps punching above its weight.

The summary: Rolls-Royce has rocketed from crisis to record-breaking success, showering investors with cash, dominating the skies and defence sector, and proving that a well-tuned engine—and a sharp CEO—can drive unstoppable momentum.

The details:

  • Rolls-Royce roars back – The jet engine giant is paying its first dividend since Covid, dishing out £1.5bn to shareholders after a 55% surge in operating profits to £2.5bn. A little thank-you for sticking around during the turbulence.

  • Stock soars, cash pours – Shares skyrocketed 16% to a record £7.39 as revenues hit £17.8bn. The company’s turnaround, spearheaded by CEO Tufan Erginbilgiç, has seen its value multiply nearly eightfold. Not too shabby for a firm once on life support.

  • Engines at full throttle – Rolls-Royce engines flew more hours in 2024 than in pre-pandemic 2019, and the firm is eyeing a return to the single-aisle jet market. Meanwhile, defence contracts could fatten the coffers further, thanks to rising UK military spending.

  • A toast to investors – A £1bn share buyback and a 6p-per-share dividend (worth £500m) will land in 2025. Erginbilgiç justifies the generosity, arguing strong companies reward investors—or risk losing them. After all, shaping destiny doesn’t come cheap.

Why it matters: Rolls-Royce has gone from pandemic survival mode to soaring profits, proving that a well-oiled machine (and some price hikes) can turn fortunes around. With record-breaking share prices and a cash war chest, it's flexing its financial muscles, making investors grin and competitors sweat. And with booming defence contracts and a potential single-aisle jet comeback, it’s not just rewarding shareholders—it’s setting itself up for another decade of dominance.

The summary: CVC and Hollywood mogul Ari Emanuel are battling it out with big bids to snatch up some of tennis' top tournaments, proving that even the sport's biggest events are now fair game for a hefty dose of private equity action!

The details:

  • CVC's Grand Slam Bid – The private equity powerhouse is lobbing a $1bn offer to snap up the Miami Open and Madrid Open, squaring off against Hollywood bigwig Ari Emanuel, who’s keen to keep the trophies in his cabinet.

  • A Court Full of Suitors – With Goldman Sachs in Emanuel’s corner and whispers of EQT Partners and Providence Equity Partners eyeing the deal, the bidding war is shaping up to be as intense as a five-set final.

  • CVC's Tennis Portfolio Play – Already deep in the sport with a WTA partnership, CVC’s move would mark its first dive into tournament ownership, adding to its already bulging sporting empire spanning F1, football, and rugby.

  • Endeavor’s Fire Sale – The talent empire, recently taken private by Silver Lake, is offloading its tennis jewels alongside its Frieze art business, with bidders rallying to get a slice of the action before the hammer drops.

Why it matters: Private equity’s grip on sport tightens as CVC eyes another prize, turning top-tier tennis into just another asset on its billion-dollar spreadsheet. With Hollywood’s Ari Emanuel fighting to keep control, the clash isn’t just about tennis—it’s a power play between financial titans with deep pockets and even deeper ambitions. Meanwhile, for the players and fans, the real question is whether this boardroom battle serves the sport or just lines a few more already well-lined pockets.