Encina Private Credit, LLC (“EPC”) is pleased to announce that it has served as joint lead arranger and joint bookrunner for a $155 million senior secured credit facility supporting a global technology focused private equity firm for the acquisition of a leading provider of cloud-based enterprise software solutions.

40-year ABL executive Mike Knuckles to lead metro Atlanta office serving U.S. South

GULFPORT, Miss. (April 3, 2023)—Hancock Whitney has established a new companywide asset based lending (ABL) division primarily serving 12 states across the southern United States. Mike Knuckles, an asset based lending executive with decades of industry experience, will lead the line of business based in suburban Atlanta, Georgia, and direct all recruiting and hiring.

Wharton finance professor Itamar Drechsler discusses what led to the collapse of SVB and the questions it raises for banks, depositors, and regulators going forward.

It’s no secret that, despite great progress in the last couple of decades, secured finance remains a male-dominated field. Here, we shine the spotlight on three unique SFNet members whose teams are made up of more women than men.

First Citizens Bank today announced that its Healthcare Finance group, part of the CIT division, has provided $44.2 million to affiliates of Kayne Anderson Real Estate and Remedy Medical Properties to finance a portfolio of medical office building properties.

Zions Bancorporation, N.A., through its Texas Division, Amegy Bank, closed and funded a $45,000,000 credit facility for an importer and distributor of iron castings for the water and waste water industries.

Crédit Agricole CIB has closed a new $100MM 3-year Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility with Allegiant Travel Company, acting as Sole Arranger and Bookrunner.

Allegiant is a longstanding client of the Bank, with this Senior Secured Revolving Credit Facility being the foundation of its relationship with the Company since 2015. With this latest refinancing, the transaction will continue to further enhance Allegiant’s liquidity position and will support the Company’s order book and introduction of new technology assets.

Assembled Brands is pleased to announce that Genevieve Forsman and Juliana Clark have joined its team as Portfolio Analysts in Los Angeles, CA. In this role, Forsman and Clark are responsible for account management, operational and collateral compliance, and portfolio monitoring.

There are few individuals more genuinely positive and upbeat than SFNet’s own Michele Ocejo. On her 30th anniversary of joining SFNet, I took the opportunity to sit down with our heralded but unassuming director of communications and discussed the importance of relationships, making an impact, and the joy she gets from sharing people’s stories.

First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company ("First Citizens Bank"), a subsidiary of Raleigh-headquartered First Citizens BancShares, Inc. ("First Citizens") (Nasdaq: FCNCA), announced today that it has entered into an agreement with the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) to purchase out of FDIC receivership substantially all loans and certain other assets, and assume all customer deposits and certain other liabilities of Silicon Valley Bridge Bank, N.A. 

BofA Securities, Inc. is serving as exclusive financial advisor to First Citizens and Smith, Anderson, Blount, Dorsett, Mitchell & Jernigan, LLP acted as legal advisor.

Secured finance, much like the rest of financial services, is often a high-pressure industry, requiring long hours to resolve client concerns, handle due diligence, and scout for new prospects. Professionals in the field are commonly answering emails in the wee hours of the morning and late into the night. But the greying of the industry and attrition are causing secured finance executives to take a long, hard look at employee concerns, as well as DEI, recruitment, and retention initiatives.

Beam Global, (Nasdaq: BEEM, BEEMW), the leading provider of innovative sustainable products and technologies for electric vehicle (EV) charging, energy storage, energy security and outdoor media, announced the execution of a line of credit with supply chain solutions specialist, OCI Group, based in London, UK. OCI is highly experienced in accelerating business performance for high-growth-potential organizations. 

Cadence Business Finance, a subsidiary of Cadence Bank (NYSE: CADE), today announced the addition of Steven Janson and Mark Buren as managing directors, expanding the company’s footprint for asset-based lending solutions to middle-market companies.

 In the wake of the recent collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and Signature Bank—and subsequent banking industry developments  in the U.S. and elsewhere—markets and the public should be reassured by the  response of federal regulators to cover depositors and to help maintain confidence and stability in the resilient U.S. banking system amid challenging economic times. That’s according to a senior regulatory compliance expert at Wolters Kluwer Compliance Solutions.

In a poll conducted by the Secured Finance Network (SFNet), since new CA disclosure rules were implemented in December 2022, 40% of respondents were found to be “no longer lending” to prospective borrowers who fall within the regulations’ threshold of less than $500,000. SFNet is an 80-year-old nonprofit with members representing the $4T U.S. secured finance industry.  The new law, requiring sweeping financial disclosures, introduced by CA State Senator Steven M. Glazer in 2018, faced four years of strong opposition before being rolled out in December of 2022.

In December, Gordon Brothers announced that Norma Kuntz would be appointed CEO of the company, effective February 13, 2023. Ken Frieze and Michael Frieze will continue to serve the company as chairman and chairman emeritus, respectively.

Kuntz joined Gordon Brothers as its president and chief operating officer in June 2022 and quickly demonstrated her readiness to lead the firm. Prior to Gordon Brothers, she served as the chief operating officer and chief financial officer of global private equity at The Carlyle Group. Her nearly 25 years of financial services industry experience includes global roles within private equity, asset management, alternative investments and valuations, positioning her well to lead a multi-disciplinary global firm poised for growth.

Entravision (NYSE: EVC), a leading global advertising solutions, media and technology company, today announced that on March 17, 2023 the Company entered into a new $275 million credit facility, consisting of a $200 million term loan A and a $75 million revolving credit facility. Led by Bank of America, Wells Fargo, and J.P. Morgan Chase, the new credit facility replaces the Company’s existing credit facility entered into on November 30, 2017.

The initial panic over the Silicon Valley Bank collapse is over, but the VC-backed beauty startup landscape is now grappling with the potential long-term effects. 

Reconsideration of which banks to use to keep their businesses’ cash safe is just the beginning of founders’ concerns, as the closure of the bank could have a broader impact on the VC landscape overall, say experts. Startup beauty brands including outdoor brand Kinfield, skin-care brand Herbivore Botanicals and period health company The Flex Co. were among those banking with Silicon Valley Bank before the collapse. But the event has caused many other startup brands to rethink how and where they store their cash. 

Danimer Scientific, Inc. (NYSE: DNMR) (“Danimer” or the “Company”), a leading next-generation bioplastics company focused on the development and production of biodegradable materials, today announced it had closed a new senior secured term loan (“Term Loan”) with an aggregate principal amount of $130 million that expands its capital structure, significantly improves its near-term liquidity position, and enables it to maintain strategic and operational flexibility as it executes its growth strategy.