Alarm systems company CSL Dualcom has secured a refinancing deal with Octopus Investments following the collapse of its bank, Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander.

Octopus, a venture capital and private equity group which also offers ‘flexible debt’, has extended a five-year interest-only loan of £2.65 million to CSL, one of its portfolio companies.

Stuart Nichol, director of Octopus Investments, says the firm has raised £40 million through venture capital trusts (VCTs) to provide similar debt funding to ‘secure and profitable SMEs’.

Adds Nichol, ‘For our investors, the provision of interest-only loans to companies like CSL offers a low risk investment opportunity which, when combined with the various tax incentives associated with VCT investment, makes the potential for returns extremely compelling.’

Law firm Wragge & Co advised Octopus on the transaction, while BLP represented CSL. Financial due diligence was provided by BDO Stoy Hayward with commercial due digilence offered by Latitude.