We’re excited to share recent news from our loan originator Creditstar, which has successfully completed its largest bond issuance to date — raising €46 million. This milestone further reinforces their financial position and long-term commitment to growth across Europe.
For Lendermarket investors, this is a strong sign of confidence from the institutional investment community, and it highlights the stability and credibility of one of our key lending partners. To get more insight into what this means, we spoke with Valter Kaleta, a Member of the Management Board at Creditstar Group.
This largest bond issuance milestone is undoubtedly significant for Creditstar Group. It reflects well how the strategic planning and disciplined execution came together.
This year, we took a highly structured approach to the issuance process – starting earlier than in previous cycles and putting great emphasis on aligning all elements well ahead of time. I’m pleased to say that this preparation paid off as planned.
Particularly it is great to point out the outcomes in bond pricing, as we successfully reduced the bond coupon across all three of our new bonds by 1 percentage point. Achieving this demonstrates the continued confidence that investors place in Creditstar Group and the strength of our market position. Especially in a private placement setting, where securing commitments is inherently more challenging than in public markets.
Our extensive experience in the bond market certainly played an important role. With over 40 successful bond issues behind us, we had a clear understanding of what needed to be done – from timeline management and investor segmentation to the specific reporting expectations of our institutional investor base.
Over the past five years, we’ve built and managed a dedicated in-house Investor Relations team, me included, that was responsible for the conduct of the issuance. Over the period we’ve improved quite a lot on the efficiencies of the process, from providing seamless interaction experience to all investors, to the various software tools we use to smoothly handle a large number of bond subscription transactions we needed to conduct. I’m particularly proud of the team, I think the work quality has truly been world class. Looking ahead, I have full confidence that we’re well-equipped to manage even larger issuances in the future.
If I were to summarise the key takeaway from our past fundraises, it would be – planning, planning, planning.
The broader environment was indeed mixed. On one hand, macroeconomic indicators – such as the gradual lowering of interest rates – created a supportive backdrop for fixed income instruments. On the other hand, market volatility, including geopolitical developments and short-term disruptions like the U.S. tariff measures, brought about historic fluctuations across various stock markets. And notably, June 2025 marks as one of the largest maturity walls in the Baltic bond market for this year, so competition for investor attention was demanding.
In the end I believe our long-standing successful track record had a lot to do in securing the investors’ interest. While we adjusted coupon pricing downward compared to previous offers, the pricing remained attractive.
Apart from the short-term peak of the tariffs introduction related turbulence, whereby we chose to pause investor communications briefly, there were no particular challenges we encountered during the process. As already mentioned, it was beneficial that we laid out our activities timeline over a longer period.
The proceeds from the bond issuance are allocated to support the growth of our credit portfolio. This raise strengthens our capital plan and enables us to continue scaling our digital-first services across the eight European markets where we operate, while also refinancing our maturing bond obligations.
With over 1.4 million registered customer accounts, our product strategy continues to prove effective in meeting customer needs and supporting profitable operations.
Across eight markets, we offer a combination of fixed-term loans and flexible credit lines under the Creditstar and Monefit brands. Our credit products range up to €10,000.
What sets us apart is the profile of our customers: financially stable individuals with steady income who use our products not out of necessity, but as a tool for managing cash flow – whether for home renovations, travel, or personal projects. We see that our target customer group – near-prime sector – is not so efficiently served by the banks. As their focus is more aimed at the prime sector and therefore, we have an advantage to gain customers who are not serviced by traditional banks. Independent, more digitally native consumer lenders like us are steadily increasing their share of wallet relative to banks, a trend supported by broader market research.
Our top growth priority is to significantly expand our credit portfolio across these product categories. We expect most of the growth to come from our current eight markets, though within a period of say 3 years it is possible that we also expand geographically. In parallel, we plan to introduce additional financial offerings to further broaden the financial ecosystem available to our customers.
Investor trust and a thoughtfully executed capital strategy are, of course, essential to capturing these opportunities and driving sustainable expansion.
The successful €46 million bond issuance is a strong signal of confidence in Creditstar Group’s long-term outlook. Not only from institutional investors but also from hundreds of investors similar to those participating through platforms like Lendermarket. It shows that the market recognises the stability of our business model, the quality of our portfolio, and the discipline of our operations.
For Lendermarket investors, it underscores that Creditstar is a stable originator with an 18+ year track record of profitability, and a company committed to sound governance, risk control, and transparent communication.
Moving forward, we remain fully committed to high standards that have brought us thus far and continue to grow in a way that is sustainable, well-managed, and beneficial for all stakeholders.
I want to thank our investor community at Lendermarket. We deeply value your trust and consider you an important part of our diversified funding base.
We congratulate Creditstar on this achievement and look forward to what’s ahead. Stay tuned for more updates on our loan originators and platform growth.
As Creditstar reaches new milestones, so do the opportunities for Lendermarket investors.
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Disclaimer. The content on this blog is for informational purposes only and is not financial or investment advice. Always consult a professional before making investment decisions. Investments carry risks, including loss of principal. We are not responsible for any actions taken based on this content.
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