An American car parking giant has teamed up with private equity investors in a bid to seize control of NCP, its struggling British-based rival.

Sky News has learnt that REEF Technology, which counts Japan’s SoftBank and an Abu Dhabi state fund among its backers, lodged a joint offer for NCP on Tuesday alongside Bain Capital Credit.

The bid, which is understood to include a £150m unsecured loan to shore up NCP’s finances, comes less than 48 hours before the car park operator’s creditors are scheduled to vote on a controversial restructuring plan which has infuriated a number of landlords.

A City source said on Tuesday that Bain Capital Credit and REEF Technology were confident that their joint proposal was “demonstrably better for landlords and NCP than the current plan” being considered by creditors.

“This is an unrivalled strategic and financial partnership looking to support NCP and its management team in future,” they added.

They insisted that under the consortium’s proposal, creditors would have the opportunity to “share in future value creation”, with the possibility of recovering more than their compromised claim in some cases.

Injecting REEF’s strategic decision-making into the NCP business would also give the British car parks chain a better chance of surviving in a post-pandemic world, they said.

REEF, the source pointed out, had “pioneered alternative, higher value uses for car parks” which reflect how city life and transport is changing in the form of electric vehicle charging, dark kitchen operations and vertical farms being installed at sites in the US.

The company is backed by major investors including SoftBank, Mubadala and Oaktree.

Meanwhile, Bain Capital Credit is the credit investment arm of Bain Capital, one of the world’s biggest private equity groups.

If the restructuring scheme currently on the table is blocked by creditors, NCP can seek court approval to override those objections – part of a new form of insolvency process which has been rarely tested in the UK since its introduction.

NCP would face collapse unless the scheme is approved, underlining the stakes for a company operating across more than 500 British sites and employing about 1000 people.

One key question for NCP and its current owner, Japan’s Park24, will be whether the bid can be delivered before the company runs out of money.

An NCP spokeswoman said: “The restructuring committee will give full consideration to all the options available.”

A spokeswoman for Bain Capital Credit declined to comment.

The overall value of the consortium’s offer was unclear on Tuesday.

Related posts:

G7 – protests, ambitions and expectations ‘Lost summer’ fear over delay to end of lockdown restrictions Uber picks former Tesco exec to run European delivery arm US department store Nordstrom invests in ASOS brands Beckham in talks to buy out consumer products venture New COVID-19 workplace guidance described as ‘recipe for chaos’ Business secretary to keep energy price cap in place this winter BP-backed Pure Planet faces becoming latest casualty of energy crisis Prices at breakfast are out of date by teatime – and this business is beginning to suffer Carney says help for energy users during gas price crisis may be appropriate Activist fund Gatemore builds stake in furniture chain DFS Motor Fuel Group owner picks banks to fire up £5bn auction