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.

Second Avenue Capital Partners, LLC (“SACP”) (www.secondavecp.com) announced it has closed on a $30,000,000 senior secured term loan to UNTUCKit, one of the fastest-growing retail apparel brands in North America. The term loan will be used to restructure existing debt and provide the Company with the financial latitude to continue their pre-pandemic growth trajectory.

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. 

 

Verizon (NYSE: VZ) and Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”) today announced that funds managed by affiliates of Apollo (the “Apollo Funds”) entered into an agreement to acquire Verizon Media for $5 billion. Verizon will retain a 10% stake in the company, which will be known as Yahoo at close of the transaction and continue to be led by CEO Guru Gowrappan.

RBC Capital Markets also served as financial advisor to the Apollo Funds in connection with the transaction, alongside Barclays, BMO Capital Markets Corp., Deutsche Bank and Mizuho Securities USA LLC; all are also providing financing for the transaction. Mizuho Securities USA LLC also served as lead structuring advisor to the Apollo Funds. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel to the Apollo Funds.

Amerisource Business Capital announced the closing and funding of a $17,000,000 senior credit facility for an Iowa-based sand and construction aggregate firm.  The proceeds were used to continue the expansion of their business lines and support their ongoing working capital needs.

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.

For most banks with specialty finance groups the answer is no for several clear-cut reason, but it is not that simple of an answer for all banks with specialty finance divisions. This question is being hotly debated at the lower end of the market as many non-banks have successfully utilized one business development (BDO) team to sell both products.  Utilizing one BDO team to sell two products can work when there is a similar borrower profile that could dictate the credit going either way and a credit and portfolio team that is well trained in both products.  Good BDOs, both bank and non-bank alike, can use product, pricing and market flexibility to their advantage while utilizing one central back office for underwriting and portfolio management.  Why then do banks keep these groups separate?  The reason most banks don’t and shouldn’t combine ABL and factoring groups is that for most groups the underlying businesses, facility sizes, sourcing channels and credit risk are significantly different enough to merit separate divisions.

Inscape Corporation ("Inscape" or the "Company") (TSX: INQ), is pleased to announce that the Company has today entered into a new $15,000,000 senior credit facility with FrontWell Capital Partners Inc. (“Frontwell”) to replace the company’s existing senior credit facility with CIBC. The new loan facility (the “Loan Facility”) is a secured revolving credit facility having a committed term of twelve months, with options to renew thereafter. The proceeds of the Loan Facility will be used to repay existing indebtedness of the Company, finance new capital equipment and for general working capital purposes.

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.”

Wintrust Receivables Finance (WRF) announced the closing of a new $4.5 million accounts receivable line of credit for a growing paper bag manufacturer.

The company’s proprietary technology allows production of paper bags in a greener, more sustainable, and more efficient method. This, coupled with the decline in use of plastic bags due to environmental concerns, had led the company to land a number of new clients in 2020. The line of credit provided by WRF will fund the company’s growing working capital financing needs as it expects exponential growth over the next three years.

MUFG Union Bank today announced that Anvar Hodjaev has been named Head of Healthcare for its Commercial Banking division. Based in Los Angeles, he will lead the bank's Healthcare industry team and report to Adam Feit, Managing Director and Head of Financial Sponsors, Healthcare, and Life Sciences.

"Anvar brings a wealth of experience and expertise to a crucial business for MUFG Union Bank," Feit said. "As half of our lending commitments come from industry specialties, we continue to lean into our ability to leverage the combination of both local coverage and specialized industry expertise in critical individual sectors for our clients."

At the 2021 annual SFNet Asset Based Capital Conference (ABCC), financial experts from four top companies gathered to discuss the economic and political outlook for the year ahead. The panel consisted of:

• Jeffery Wacker – head of U.S. ABL Originations, TD Bank Group
• David Mericle – chief U.S. economist, Goldman Sachs
• Lyuba Petrova – head of U.S. Leveraged Finance, Fitch Rating
• David Chmiel – managing director, Global Torchlight

Some key themes emerged throughout the panel discussion: 

Northbrook-based private equity firm plans for succession

Big Shoulders Capital Chairman David Muslin has announced an expanded leadership team as the company plans for the next generation of growth. Joe Prudden has been promoted to President of the company from Chief Financial Officer, Alex Mazer is promoted to Executive Vice President from Vice President, Howard Spivack is promoted to Chief Financial Officer from Finance Director, and Evan Zwerman joins the company as Senior Vice President of Originations.

It is that time of year where we present the results of the Annual Factoring Industry Survey.  Last year this commentary was written after the pandemic had set in, the country was in lockdown, historical results were completely disconnected from the unfolding reality of 2020.  A year later, we look back and reflect on a surreal year.  The factoring sector experienced unprecedented declines in volume (as did most secured lending), the highest level of write offs in 15 years and yet remained profitable, thus demonstrating the durability of the business model and its suitability as a financing tool for uncertain and turbulent times.  Last year we noted that factoring is an “all-seasons competitor”, and that factoring would likely grow and thrive in the turbulent time to come.  Looking back, we see that though the industry did not grow – in fact, it shrank – it did thrive and provided a valuable source financing to many businesses adversely impacted by the pandemic.

The fourth quarter of 2020 showed a tale of two cities between the bank lenders and the nonbank lenders.  On a quarter-over-quarter basis, bank lenders in the fourth quarter showed flat total commitments with a drop in outstandings while the nonbanks showed double-digit percentage increases in both commitments and outstandings.  At the bank level, new commitments approximated commitment runoffs, perhaps showing signs of stabilization while nonbanks increased on their third-quarter momentum of closing more deals than runoff in both commitments and outstandings. For both banks and nonbanks, there was a common theme of low utilization with the fourth quarter of 2020 showing the lowest utilization levels in recent history.

The quarterly report is segregated into a bank/non-bank classification while the annual report is combined, with specific bank/non-bank classifications in certain areas.  Both surveys had comparable number of respondents with prior quarters and years with 34 participants for the annual survey and 35 participants for the quarterly survey.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today announced that its Equipment Finance business, part of the Business Capital division, has hired new business development leaders for the Northeast, West and Southwest regions.

Wayne Wagner, Mark Johnson and JP DeStefano join CIT as vice presidents for business development on the Industrial team, where they will be responsible for developing dealer relationships throughout the Northeast, West and Southwest, respectively. All will report to Harold Ray, who directs industrial finance for the Equipment Finance business.