De Lage Landen (DLL) has been operating in Ireland since 1992 but it was not until 2012 that the Dutch lender began to make a real impact in the Irish agri-finance scene.

In February 2012, DLL purchased Permanent TSB’s agri-finance loan book, which was valued at around €60m.

As part of that deal, John Holland and his seasoned agri-finance sales team moved across to DLL.

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“The loan book was a quality portfolio for DLL to acquire,” said John. “All loans were performing and, since taking control of the loan book two years ago, the value of it has been well paid down.”

The deal was just as important for John and his team as it was for DLL. “We never had the funds with PTSB. However, with DLL, funding is not an issue. The company operates in 35 markets around the world.”

De Lage Landen is a wholly owned subsidiary of Dutch lender Rabobank. In 2013, DLL recorded solid growth of 2.2% to take the value of its global portfolio to €31.5bn with a net income of €1.5bn, a 6.2% increase.

Impact

A company with the financial muscle of DLL allows John and his team the opportunity to make a far greater impact in Ireland than before.

DLL is able to offer a competitive lending rate, coupled with a focus on agriculture, that the other lenders in Ireland cannot match.

“We are completely focused on the agri market. Our approach to the market is working through vendors and their dealerships,” said John.

“Our focus is on our partners. We give dealers a quote tool so that they can give a farmer a quick quote and get a basic application sent in.”

The DLL operating model is very simple. The majority of its business comes from working closely with vendors so that their dealerships around the country can offer customers a complete finance package, along with the product they are buying.

The finance that DLL offers through its vendor partners is hire purchase or leasing.

In this way, the vendor can package a finance offer along with the product they are selling. It’s a simple solution that allows farmers to have all their needs met in one stop.

One of the greatest advantages for DLL is their global presence and the fact that they operate in the same markets as many of their vendor partners.

Companies such as Case New Holland CNH, Kverneland, Lely, Deutz Fahr and Claas can operate in several different markets, while offering customers the same ease of access to competitive finance packages.

Along with John Holland and the six other regional sales reps, DLL has another 60 employees working from the IFSC in Dublin.