During the Secured Finance Network’s webinar on the healthcare finance sector, streamed May 15, Allen Wilen of EisnerAmper, described a future scenario affected by human longevity, geographic location and how COVID-19 affected you. New trends relevant to finance executives are accelerating out of necessity because of the sudden impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the weaknesses it illuminated.

Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, announced today that it has provided a $20 million secured term loan facility to Brooks Brothers Group, Inc, the prototypical American apparel retailer headquartered in New York, New York.  A family business founded in 1818, the company has grown into a truly global brand with stores across the United States and Canada as well as a footprint that spans over 70 countries.  

Monroe Credit Advisors (“Monroe Credit”) announced that Marc Pressler has joined the firm as a Managing Director in its Chicago office. Marc will be responsible for originating middle market debt and lease transactions for the firm.

Marc has over 30 years of experience in commercial banking and structured finance. Prior to Monroe Credit, Marc was the Commercial Banking Segment Leader at Associated Bank, where he was responsible for leading the origination, underwriting and portfolio management teams in the Southeast Wisconsin region. 

I trust you are safe and well as we begin to enter a new phase of this crisis, that of slowly reopening our economy. While the devastation we have experienced has been profound on both a personal and professional level, our community has played a crucial role in weathering this storm and will continue to do so as we emerge stronger and more resilient than before. I am moved by examples of how our members are keeping essential supply chains intact, funding providers of critical services and responding to the surge of funding requests from businesses that have pivoted away from their usual products to manufacture PPE to ease the shortage, not to mention those who are donating and raising funds for groups being adversely affected during this unprecedented time.

The Company entered into an incremental 364-day $200 million term loan (the "364-Day Loan") among several banks and other financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent. The additional financing provided under the 364-Day Loan enhances the Company's liquidity during the unprecedented global impact of COVID-19. 

The Post-COVID New Normal For Store Closing and Strategic Sale Events. Reflections by SB360’s Scott Bernstein.

“Why aren’t you in the water?  Nobody’s going in.  Please… get in the water.”  Those pleading words uttered in the 1975 blockbuster movie “Jaws” were part of an ill-fated effort by Mayor Larry Vaughn to save his fictional sleepy beach town from financial ruin.  Those of us who saw the movie or have binged watched Shark Week re-runs know how that worked out for the reluctant residents of Amity.

House Democrats unveiled a massive $3-trillion virus-relief bill Tuesday, combining aid to state and local governments with direct cash payments, expanded unemployment insurance and food stamp spending as well as funds for voting by mail and the U.S. Postal Service.  A vote is likely on Friday.

While the bill is not supported by House Republicans (or expected to become law), it is the opening salvo for the next COVID-19 relief package, which will likely face protracted negotiations between the White House and Congress.

House Democrats prepared the below summaries, which make a number of changes to programs in the CARES Act, including  to the Payroll Protection Program (PPP).  

After careful review, the Advocacy Committee of SFNet  determined that we should provide additional comments to the Fed and Treasury in an effort to make the Main Street Loan Programs better suited to ABL lenders.   Among key issues raised were (i) making it available to nondepository lenders so that they may, in turn, serve their borrowers; (ii) reducing the minimum on the MSELF from $10 million to $1 million; (iii) eliminating the requirement that any Main Street loans be pari passu with the ABL facility and collateral; (iv) ensuring that participation in the loans is guaranteed to be in the program prior to lender funding and (v) eliminating EBITDA as a metric for both eligibility and loan sizing. Please click here to view the letter.

Fifth Third Bank, National Association, announced today that Mitchell Feiger, the chairman and CEO of Fifth Third Bank (Chicago), will retire on May 29, 2020. Succeeding him as the leader of the Chicago region will be Mark Hoppe, who had been named to the post of regional president in July 2019. Feiger had served in his current role since the merger of Fifth Third Bank and MB Financial in March 2019. He previously had served as president and CEO of MB Financial. 

White Oak Commercial Finance is pleased to announce that Martin F. Efron has joined the firm as the portfolio manager in New York, serving the Northeast region. He will report to Bob Grbic, CEO and president of White Oak Commercial Finance.

The coronavirus-triggered downturn is pushing default rates higher and is also affecting the bankruptcy procedures used to address such credit defaults, according to Fitch Ratings. Several recent debtors have had their bankruptcy cases derailed as ability to access exit financing markets has been compromised. Similarly, decreased lender appetite for equitized debt as well as lack of third party interest in certain distressed assets has also disrupted the streamlined trend of pre-coronavirus Chapter 11s. Lender fears with respect to DIP facilities as well as an increased frequency of liquidation outcomes will likely further impede the goal of preserving value in U.S. bankruptcies during the crisis. Given that recoveries are tied to distributable value, a prolonged pandemic may contribute to lower creditor recoveries for debtors with disrupted processes.

On April 30, 2020, the Federal Reserve updated its Main Street Loan Program (“MSLP”) terms based on thousands of comments (including comments from Secured Finance Network) submitted since the program was initially announced on April 9, 2020.  Several important updates were made to the MSLP, though many changes of interest to asset-based lenders were contemplated but not fully developed in this new guidance.[1]  In particular, asset-based lenders will likely need to consider the impact of MSLP terms described below on existing financing structures, such as the pari passu treatment of collateral, which could dilute existing lender security in some cases, the continued reliance on EBITDA and risk ratings as metrics for determining borrower eligibility and the restrictions on assignments by MSLP lenders.

Cross-border loan workouts and enforcement of security interests across multiple jurisdictions is a complex matter and greatly depends on the venue of the insolvency and the location of the collateral. These factors are also intertwined with the overall reach of the credit facility. A deep understanding of the multiplicity of issues that may arise during a workout or insolvency can not only enhance a lender’s ability to be made whole in an enforcement scenario, but can also create opportunity for liquidity providers to expand their geographic offerings and create unique value for their global borrowers.

We all want to return to normal, or the new normal, as quickly as possible.  The question businesses and their stakeholders need to ask themselves is what does normal mean and how can the return be funded.

For most companies, their working capital has been depleted during the shutdown as they struggled to pay employees and keep vendors satisfied, while dealing with impacts to sales and accounts receivable.

J. Crew announced that its parent company, Chinos Holdings, had filed for Chapter 11 protection in federal bankruptcy court for the Eastern District of Virginia. As part of its financial reorganization plan, it will hand over control to top creditors, including the hedge fund Anchorage Capital, by converting $1.65 billion of its debt into equity. The company also plans to hold onto its Madewell brand, which it had considered spinning off into a public company.

On April 30, 2020, the Federal Reserve announced that it is expanding eligibility to participate in the Federal Reserve’s Paycheck Protection Program Liquidity Facility (the “PPPLF”) to all lenders eligible to originate Paycheck Protection Program loans.[1]  The PPPLF permits eligible PPP lenders to pledge PPP loan notes to the Federal Reserve in exchange for a low interest, non-recourse loan from the Federal Reserve in the amount of the pledged PPP loan note. 

Program Update

When originally announced, the PPPLF was only available to PPP lenders that are depository institutions.  Now, all PPP lenders approved by the SBA, including banks, credit unions, Community Development Financial Institutions, members of the Farm Credit System, small business lending companies licensed by the SBA, and some financial technology firms, are eligible to participate in the PPPLF. 

Twin River Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: TRWH) announced today that it had successfully syndicated an expansion to the term loan facility in its existing bank credit agreement by $275 million.  Funding, which is expected to occur on May 11, 2020, is subject to final documentation and customary conditions.

Borrowings under the expanded term loan facility will bear interest at LIBOR + 8.00% per annum through the 2026 maturity date.  The loan will be issued with an original issue discount of 97 and will be non-callable for 18 months.  After 18 months the loan is callable at a price of 104.5% of par, and after 30 months the loan is callable at par.

The data in this Annual Factoring Industry Survey presents results from a period that now seems like a distant memory. Sitting down to write commentary was very challenging. Commenting on the past year seemed moot; and attempting to correlate or speculate on the future of our industry seems a fools’ errand.

One thing to keep in mind is that receivables factoring is a an “all-seasons competitor” in the world of finance.  Factoring is a product that has been around for hundreds, if not thousands, of years, and so I am confident that it, like our economy, will weather the current stormy global conditions stemming from the pandemic. In fact, it is more likely that the industry will grow and thrive during this time of stress and uncertainty. The very design and nature of accounts receivable factoring is ideally suited for providing liquidity to businesses in times of financial, operational stress and uneven cash flow.