Lord Rothschild, Sir Ronald Cohen and the Australian sovereign wealth fund have committed to invest â¬450m (£375m) in the largest lending start-up since the financial crisis âoffering hope to cash-starved businesses struggling to get credit. The two financiers and the Future Fund are backing Haymarket Financial (HayFin), a specialist lender to medium-sized businesses. The commitments take the total capital invested in the company to â¬1bn, making it the most significant new entrant in the banking sector to date. A raft of new banks is being set up, but they are small by comparison. Virgin Money is valued at around £500m, Walton & Co hopes to raise about £100m, Metro Bank has two branches, and NBNK Investments, which plans to buy assets from the part-nationalised lenders and is chaired by Lord Levene, has raised £50m so far. Unlike other start-ups, HayFin is not planning to lend to the general public but to businesses with an enterprise value â the value of the debt and equity â of â¬100m-â¬500m (£84m-£417m). Companies of that size are too small to tap the bond markets, so are dependant on bank credit. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/...othschild-and-Cohen-back-1bn-euro-lender.html