Caterpillar Financial Services
The captive finance arm of Caterpillar, funding new and used Cat plant through hire purchase and leases, routed mainly through the UK dealer network.
What they do
Caterpillar Financial Services finances Caterpillar equipment and nothing else. Hire purchase, finance leases and operating leases cover machines for construction, quarrying, mining, forestry, marine, power generation, agriculture and oil and gas, funded from the parent group's wholesale lines. Most UK applications route through Finning, the primary Cat dealer, though the finance company can also be approached directly. Fleet transactions on major sites regularly run into the millions, and promotional rates appear periodically on specific models.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
For a quarrying, construction or plant-hire business, captive finance is usually the keenest money available on the machines themselves, because the lender understands the residual value better than anyone else and takes the equipment back if it has to. Inside a £3–15m raise it funds the fleet, leaving senior debt for the rest of the structure, and a used-machine purchase can be financed on the same terms as new.
Where they are not the fit
Only Caterpillar equipment can be financed, so a mixed fleet needs a second lender for the rest. Nothing is published on facility floors or ceilings, or on the credit process, so capacity has to be established through the dealer. There is no corporate lending of any kind beyond the machines.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not publicly disclosed. Promotional zero-percent finance offers have been run via Finning UK for specific Cat models (e.g. Cat 313FL GG, Cat 320 GC, 2020 campaign).
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- No evidence of sponsor-backed or private equity-backed borrower appetite - captive model focused on direct equipment customers (corporates, contractors, quarry operators, mining companies)
- Where they lend
- (England, Scotland, Wales). Confirmed active UK entity (company 02538373, SIC 64910 financial leasing, accounts filed to Dec 2024 as at Aug 2025). Finning UK is the primary dealer channel covering mainland GB
- How they decide
- Applications routed through Finning UK (primary UK Cat dealer) or direct to Cat Financial UK. Quote request via Finning branch network or 0800 028 7778. No public information on credit committee structure or delegated authority thresholds
- Search funds and ETA
- No published route for search-fund or first-time acquirer borrowers
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
The desks that lend
Caterpillar Financial Services lends through 3 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Caterpillar Financial Services lends, but which of these would own it.
Hire purchase (HP) — caterpillar plant & machinery
- Security
- Asset-backed (HP on Cat plant & machinery; title transfers on final payment)
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Non-Caterpillar equipment (captive OEM only)
Finance lease — caterpillar plant & machinery
- Security
- Asset-backed (finance lease on Cat plant & machinery; lender retains title)
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Non-Caterpillar equipment (captive OEM only)
Operating lease — caterpillar plant & machinery
- Security
- Asset-backed (operating lease; Cat Financial owns asset; residual risk retained by lender)
- Funds
- Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Non-Caterpillar equipment (captive OEM only)
How they sit against the category
- 11 of the 40 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
- It lends through 3 distinct desks, where most firms here run one or two.
Counted across the 40 asset-based & asset-finance lenders in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
Does Caterpillar Financial Services lend to search funds or ETA buyers?
Not on the published evidence. Caterpillar Financial Services publishes no route for search-fund or first-time acquirer borrowers. A searcher's route to a lender usually runs through the quality of the target and the equity behind it.
Does Caterpillar Financial Services lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Caterpillar Financial Services lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Caterpillar Financial Services lend?
(England, Scotland, Wales). Confirmed active UK entity (company 02538373, SIC 64910 financial leasing, accounts filed to Dec 2024 as at Aug 2025). Finning UK is the primary dealer channel covering mainland GB.
What does Caterpillar Financial Services lend?
The published product set is hire purchase (hp) — caterpillar plant & machinery, finance lease — caterpillar plant & machinery, operating lease — caterpillar plant & machinery. Published sector focus is agriculture, construction, forestry, marine, mining.
On the record
January 2023: Aggregate Industries / Glensanda Quarry (Scotland) — Finning supplied 18 used Cat machines (3×992 wheel loaders, 12×777 trucks, D9 dozer, 966 loader, 16M grader); Cat Financial provided funding support alongside capex; five-year service agreement (im-mining.com, Feb 2024.
2015: Aggregate Industries — 100+ connected Cat machines across 44 UK sites; five-year Finning Managed Solutions deal; largest deployment of new Cat connected quarry machines in UK history; Cat Finance used (earthmoversmagazine.co.uk.
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.