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April 2013 www.tvbeurope.com


TVBEurope 13 News & Analysis Moneymatters


Philip Stevens talks to three specialist organisations about how capital broadcasting projects — large and small — are financed


WHETHER IT’S a freelancer looking to invest in new camera kit or an editing system, or a broadcaster seeking money for a studio upgrade, funding the deal will often involve a finance company that specialises in the media industry. Such organisations often have access to funding that is not generally available to individuals or businesses.


“What sets us apart from


traditional high street banks and less specialist sources of finance is that we are able to lend against the value of the asset itself, such as a camera or the hardware in a studio upgrade,” explains Peter Savage, managing director of UK-based Azule Finance. “Regardless of the amounts of Quantitative Easing that is pumped into the


economy, high street banks are still subject to regulation which means a certain proportion of lending has to be secured. What this means for small businesses or individuals looking to fund a camera around £30k (€34.7K) is that they must borrow against the value of property or tie it up with ‘book debt’, which can be very risky.”


Although Azule Finance is headquartered in England and has offices in Ireland and Germany, the company also provides finance options to companies in Spain, Portugal and Italy. Indeed, it would appear that UK companies are often the main source of financing throughout Europe “Alongside working in the


UK, we operate on a brokerage basis in the Benelux territories and have found the appetite for funding broadcast assets there far more challenging than at home,” says Gareth Wilding, Sales & Marketing director of Fineline Media Finance. In 1988 Fineline was bought


Paul Robson: “It’s a complete equipment technical solution that needs consideration, not an individual item”


by the equipment leasing division of NM Rothschild bank and became a principal funder, making its own decisions and


Peter Savage: “The broadcast industry in Germany is far more cautious in terms of making investments than we find in the UK and Ireland”


lending its own money. “Because of the unique way Fineline is funded we have access to funds from Rothschild that are not otherwise available,” states Wilding.


Financing in practice But how does the financing operation work? “The client selects the required equipment and chooses the supplier,” explains Paul Robson, managing director of Medialease. “An application to a finance company is then made for funding. Once approved, the finance company settles the supplier’s invoice and then


contracts with the client for the repayment in a suitable form.” That sounds simple enough,


but with the recent economic uncertainties has the finance market changed? “Some of the larger broadcast companies may have had to alter how they approach their capital expenditure programmes because of the increasingly restricted access to liquidity or cash,” says Wilding. “In truth, it really should change a lot more. There should be a far greater reliance on managed-service offerings and operational leasing.” Wilding expresses surprise that most buyers in the


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