Dianne Wagman is a senior vice president, senior director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Executive Talent Acquisition for Santander US.   

Bobbi Acord Noland is a partner at Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. As head of the Commercial Finance practice, Bobbi guides global banks, regional banks and finance companies through domestic and cross-border transactions ranging from $5 million to more than $1 billion. She has handled practically every aspect of commercial lending, from single-lender deals to syndicated facilities involving multiple lenders, borrowers, creditors and multi-tiered debt tranches. In addition, Bobbi frequently advises her clients on workouts and restructurings.

In February, Otterbourg P.C. announced that Valerie S. Mason and Nneoma A. Maduike had been named co-chairs of the firm’s Lender Finance Practice Group. Otterbourg’s experienced Lender Finance team advises and represents the largest U.S. and global institutional lenders and regional banks, as lenders and mature lenders, sponsors supported companies, and strategics, ranging from startups to mature traditional lenders and funds, merchant cash advance companies, asset-based lenders, factors and fintech lenders, as borrowers, in “lender to lender” secured revolving credit and term loan facilities.

SFNet will host a webinar this Friday, May 14, from 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m., titled "The Data You Need to Plan Ahead." This webinar is open to employees of SFNet member organizations and SFNet Chapter members only and will provide analysis behind the numbers for the Secured Finance Foundation (SFFound) Market Pulse Report, the Foundation’s Annual ABL and Factoring Surveys as well as Refinitiv’s Capital Markets League Table for Q1.

Panelists will include Barry Bobrow, managing director, Wells Fargo Securities; Miin Chen, COO, Siena Lending Group; Lawrence Chua, managing director, Ares Management LLC; Maria Dikeos, global head of Loans Contributions, Refinitiv; Terry Keating, president of Accord Financial’s US Asset Based Finance unit and Robert Wescott, president, Keybridge Research.

SLR Business Credit is pleased to announce funding a $20,000,000 asset-based revolving line of credit to Copper River Seafoods.

Headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, Copper River Seafoods, Inc. is a leading value-added processor and distributor of premium quality salmon and seafood products.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today announced that its Healthcare Finance business served as sole lead arranger on a $17.4 million loan to finance the acquisition of a portfolio of three medical office buildings in Bakersfield, California.

The medical office building portfolio includes more than 65,000 square feet, is fully leased and is located on the campus of Bakersfield Heart Hospital. A majority of the building tenants are practice groups affiliated with the hospital.

Last month, eCapital Corp., a leading capital solutions provider for small and medium-sized businesses in North America and the UK, announced it achieved substantial growth in 2020 and consolidated a total of eight acquired entities into a simplified corporate structure.  

Marius Silvasan, CEO of eCapital, is responsible for leading the company’s overall vision and direction, as well as developing the overarching strategies that support its corporate goals. In this role, Silvasan balances the interests of a diverse investment community with the operational model and resources required to become a global leader in alternative lending. 

Rising Together. This concept serves as both the theme for this month’s issue and SFNet’s upcoming online conference Women in Secured Finance: Where Women Rise. 

During this challenging time, it’s more important than ever to highlight and celebrate the contributions and accomplishments of women in our industry. Statistics show that the pandemic has had serious effects on women in the workplace, as we struggle with added pressures on the job, increased unemployment and increasingly challenging caregiving responsibilities. 

BHI, a full-service commercial bank led by CEO Gil Karni, announced a restructuring of the bank’s business team to accommodate its current growth, fulfill the execution of BHI’s strategic plan, position the bank for further expansion and reinforce its industry expertise in specific sectors.

John Yoler, Executive Vice President and Division Executive, has been appointed Head of BHI Commercial & Industrial, overseeing BHI’s C&I teams in New York, New Jersey, Florida and California.

Citizens announced today that it served as Lead Left Arranger for Houston-based Moda Midstream’s $300 million senior credit facility in which seven financial institutions participated.

Moda is a Texas-based infrastructure company that stores and handles liquid products that are essential to our economy and our way of life. Moda is a trusted, innovative partner dedicated to safely, reliably and efficiently moving liquids from origin to destination.

Winston & Strawn LLP is pleased to announce the addition of Rachel Gray as a partner in the firm's New York office and a member of the Leveraged Finance team where she will play a key role in the expansion of the firm's lender designation practice in both the mid and large cap markets.

Rachel is an experienced attorney with insight into both the borrower and lender sides of complex leveraged finance transactions. Rachel represents top-tier private equity sponsors and their portfolio companies in connection with a wide range of transactions, including leveraged buyouts, take-private deals, dividend recapitalizations, out-of-court restructurings and refinancings. 

SFNet's Asset-Based Capital Conference was held virtually March 9-11 and offered professionals in the asset-based lending, alternative asset management, private debt, private equity, distressed debt and service providers to discuss the rapidly changing economic environment and its impacts on portfolios and business opportunities. With nearly 1300 attendees, the virtual event offered more content to a broader audience than in years’ past.

Many panelists were optimistic that there would be a stronger and quicker than expected recovery in 2021. While the COVID-19 pandemic was unexpected, another playbook has been written and the industry once again showed how to be resilient and adjust to “the new normal.”

“The SFNet ABCC conference did a great job of balancing both education and networking,” said attendee Nancy Kalman, senior business development officer, United Capital Funding. “The distinguished panels were very informative with what our industry looks like today. I met several new people in the networking rooms, along with setting up many individual meetings. I even received a lead from this that looks like we will be able to fund.”