DLL’s ‘gentleman’s agreement’ with
Microsoft, however, could be up for grabs.
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BNP Paribas Lease Group (BPLG) has
emerged as a lead funder of Microsoft Financing alongside SG
Equipment Finance (SGEF) and De Lage Landen (DLL), Leasing Life has
learned.
Uncertainty, however, still exists over the
future of Microsoft’s lucrative UK programme, currently retained by
DLL.
Also, while BPLG last month announced it had
won a tender to provide finance in France, Germany, Italy and
Switzerland to Microsoft’s direct SME customers and those serviced
by resellers, it remains unclear which lessors have won the
software giant’s Spanish, Dutch and Belgian programmes.
SG Equipment Finance has been chosen to cover
all of Microsoft’s larger deals – anything above £1 million (€1.15
million) – across the whole of Europe, including the UK, it is
understood.
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By GlobalDataDLL is believed to have sold its stake in
Microsoft’s European financing programmes to SGEF and BPLG, after
having acquired it from CIT last year.
The Dutch lessor, meanwhile, is said to have
held on to Microsoft’s UK programme for deals worth below £1
million.
However, it is understood this relationship is
regarded as a ‘gentlemen’s agreement’ between the two
companies.
One industry source said it would be “more
sensible” for Microsoft to have only two relationships across
Europe, one with BPLG for smaller deals and one with SGEF for
larger deals.
In November 2009, citing sources close to the
deal, Leasing Life revealed BPLG was the frontrunner in the bid to
win a contract with Microsoft. SGEF and another major lessor,
KeyCorp-owned Key Equipment Finance International, were understood
to be in negotiations with the software giant to win the lucrative
contract.
At time of going to press, SGEF, DLL and
Microsoft Financing were unavailable for a comment.
The vendor finance landscape also seems to be
changing quickly elsewhere. GE Capital recently dropped a number of
vendor finance deals, although the exact number is unknown.
Speaking at Leasing Life’s annual conference
in Berlin last December, GE Capital’s Geoff Healey mentioned the
company has only kept 35 out of 160 programmes – although it is
unclear whether these were vendor finance or distribution finance
agreements.
The company, however, said it remains
committed to the vendor finance market, and it will focus on a
range of selected customers – for assets ranging from IT to
equipment and machinery – mainly where “the relationship can add
most value”.
Antonio Fabrizio
Additional reporting by Sophie
Helyer
