Strategic Funding Agreement Provides Alma with Increased Capacity to Scale its Solutions for Customers MINNEAPOLIS , Oct. 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Castlelake, L.P.
("Castlelake"), a global alternative investment manager specializing in asset-based private credit, today announced that it has entered into a forward flow agreement with Alma ("Alma"), a Buy-Now Pay-Later (BNPL) solution company in France , to purchase over €3 billion of short duration payment facilities originated online and in stores over a 2.5-year period. BNP Paribas and Santander CIB will provide senior financing as part of the forward flow agreement.
Founded in 2018, Alma is an origination platform of responsible pay in installments solutions. The company operates in 10 European countries, supporting more than 17,500 merchants through its omnichannel approach. In France , its primary market, Alma counts Maison du Monde, SNCF and Printemps among its customers.
Since 2019, Alma has originated over €4 billion of loans to consumers via its merchant partners. "Castlelake is pleased to support Alma's efforts to simplify commerce by enabling merchants to offer flexible and affordable solutions to their customers," said Alex Curcio , Partner, European Specialty Finance at Castlelake. "Through this transaction, we look forward to providing our investors with increased exposure to the near-prime consumer opportunity set within European markets.
" "This partnership with Castlelake marks another significant milestone .