Rent-A-Center has obtained $1.825 billion in debt financing commitments from J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Credit Suisse and HSBC Securities (USA) Inc., in connection with the transaction, subject to the terms and conditions of the respective commitment letters. J.P. Morgan Securities LLC is serving as lead financial advisor; Credit Suisse is serving as an additional financial advisor and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP is serving as legal counsel to Rent-A-Center. FT Partners is serving as sole strategic and financial advisor and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal counsel to Acima.

Fifth Third Business Capital announced it has arranged a new revolving credit facility for HB&G Building Products, Inc. The Deal Team consisted of Ron Kerdasha, Senior Vice President, Business Development; Jeff Seiden, Senior Vice Presiden, Underwriting and Jeffrey Much, Vice President, Portfolio Management.

Huntington Business Credit announced it closed a new $15,000,000 credit facility with The Miller Company on December 15, 2020. Proceeds of the facility were used to support the acquisition by Deutsche Invest Capital Partners and to provide ongoing working capital growth financing.

J D Factors announced it provided the following factoring facilities: $120,000 to a transportation company in Virginia; $300,000 to a transportation company in Alberta; $150,000 to a transportation company in Texas.

NextCar Holding Company Inc. (NXCR), a fintech and insurtech vehicle subscription platform, and Westlake Financial (Westlake) have signed a letter of intent to secure a NXCR $400 million debt facility, and to enter into a strategic partnership. Westlake is one of the largest automotive lenders in the U.S. with nearly $12 billion in assets under management, and provides indirect financing through a network of over 20,000 new and used car dealerships throughout the U.S.

QIAGEN N.V. (NYSE: QGEN; Frankfurt Prime Standard QIA) announced today that it has successfully concluded a syndicated revolving credit facility for EUR 400mn with an interest rate linked to the company’s environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance. The agreement makes QIAGEN the first provider of molecular diagnostics solutions with a sustainability component built into corporate borrowing. It underlines QIAGEN’s commitment to people and planet by creating financial incentives to further integrate sustainability throughout every part of its business.

Capital Southwest Corporation (“Capital Southwest”) (Nasdaq:CSWC), an internally managed business development company focused on providing flexible financing solutions to support the acquisition and growth of middle market businesses, announced today that it recently supported the acquisition of Broad Sky Networks, Inc. (“Broad Sky”) by IntelliSite Corporation (“IntelliSite”), a portfolio company of DFW Capital Partners (“DFW”). Concurrent with the acquisition, IntelliSite created a new international, technology-focused, holding company EPIC IO Technology (“EPIC IO”) comprised of Broad Sky and IntelliSite as independent subsidiaries.

Audax Private Debt announced that, as Agent & Sole Lead Arranger, it provided a Second Lien Credit Facility to support add-on acquisitions and a refinancing for Metalmark Capital’s portfolio company, Innovetive Petcare (the “Company” or “Innovetive”). Headquartered in Austin, TX, Innovetive Petcare is a leading acquirer and operator of specialty and general practice veterinary hospitals and clinics for companion animals. The company primarily operates in the south central and southeastern United States.

While COVID-19 has meant tremendous economic hardship across all business sectors, executives widely feel employees have risen to the occasion regarding productivity as a result of much of the country utilizing a work-from-home ("WFH") model. Furthermore, most of these business leaders will continue to let their employees work remotely after widespread application of a coronavirus vaccine. Those are a pair of key findings from EisnerAmper LLP's executive survey, which gauged the outlook of business leaders throughout the United States.

Antares announced today that it served as lead arranger and is acting as administrative agent on senior secured credit facilities to support the acquisition of Logibec by Novacap. Headquartered in Montreal, Canada, Logibec is a Montreal-based healthcare software company.

The healthcare sector continues to attract record levels of venture funding as early-stage startup companies rise to the forefront of delivering critical innovations. Wall Street giant J.P. Morgan’s goal is to bring value to venture capital (VC) firms that are supporting these startup companies through its global network, industry expertise, and tailored financial solutions. To support this goal, today, J.P. Morgan announced the hiring of Skip Kelly as managing director and relationship executive on the Venture Capital Coverage team.

Rabobank, the leading global food and agribusiness bank, has appointed two of its top executives, Tamira Treffers-Herrera and Robert Sinescu, to become Co-Heads of North American Client Coverage, positioning the Bank for future growth in the region. Treffers-Herrera has also assumed the role of Vice Chairperson and Head of the Atlanta office, where she additionally oversees Rabobank Mexico, which is led by Eduardo Palacios. Sinescu is the Head of the Chicago office, and also oversees Rabobank Canada, led by Marc Drouin, who was recently appointed as Canada's General Manager.

PitchBook, the premier data provider for the private and public equity markets, today released its 2021 US Private Equity Outlook, which details predictions for private equity (PE) activity and performance in 2021. This past year defied expectations for most investors and PE managers were no exception. Dealmaking nearly ground to a halt in March but has since recovered rather quickly. Fundraising is on track for another strong year, although emerging managers have had a difficult time in a virtual environment. Exits have also slowed, but there are potential bright spots in the IPO market. Despite the widespread business disruption caused by the pandemic, private market transactions multiples have remained stubbornly high.

Exela Technologies, Inc. (“Exela”) (NASDAQ: XELA), a location-agnostic global business process automation leader, announced that it has entered into a 5-year, $145 million term loan facility with Angelo Gordon, a global alternative investment firm. The facility provides for an initial funding of approximately $92 million and subject to certain conditions a further funding of approximately $53 million. A portion of the proceeds from the initial funding will be used to retire all debt outstanding under Exela’s accounts receivables securitization facility of approximately $83 million.

Canadian cannabis company Aurora Cannabis Inc. said Wednesday it has reached an agreement with its lenders to extend the maturity of its credit facility to December 31, 2022. The company also said it has ceased operations at the Aurora Sun facility and scaled back production at the Aurora Sky facility to 25 percent of its previous capacity.

B&G Foods, Inc. (NYSE: BGS) announced today the closing of its previously announced credit agreement refinancing. The refinancing includes a $300.0 million add-on tranche B term loan facility under the Company’s existing senior secured credit facility. The tranche B term loan facility was issued at a price equal to 99.00% of its face value. The add-on term loans, which have the same terms as, and are fungible with, B&G Foods’ existing $371.6 million of tranche B term loans, will bear interest at a rate of LIBOR plus 2.50%, with a 0.00% LIBOR floor, and have a maturity date of October 10, 2026.

Williams Industrial Services Group Inc. (OTCQX: WLMS) (“Williams” or the “Company”), a construction and maintenance services company, today announced that it has entered into new credit agreements (the “Credit Facilities”), including a $50.0 million term loan facility (the “Term Loan”) with Energy Impact Credit Fund, an affiliate of Energy Impact Partners, as Agent to the Term Loan, CION Investment Corporation, and CrowdOut Capital, which consists of a $35.0 million initial term loan and a $15.0 million delayed draw facility, and a $30.0 million revolving credit facility (the “Revolver”) with PNC Bank, which together replaced its previous facilities.

Fashion retailer rue21 (r21 Holdings, Inc.) said that its formidable financial standing enabled it to refinance its current term loan, decrease the cost of funds and bolster available liquidity, according to an announcement. The retailer modified its asset-based credit facility to bolster availability to $155 million due 2025 headed up by Bank of America, N.A. The modification comes with a rise to the FILO Loan via a collaborative effort between Tiger Finance and Bank of America.

Milbank LLP is serving as legal counsel to the Company. Houlihan Lokey is serving as the Company’s financial advisor. BRG is serving as the Company’s restructuring advisor. Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP is serving as legal counsel to an ad hoc group of Secured Noteholders and Province is serving as financial advisor. Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to Ares Management Corporation. Debevoise & Plimpton LLP is serving as legal counsel to Brigade Capital Management and GLC Advisors & Co. is serving as financial advisor. Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP is serving as legal counsel to The Carlyle Group.

ClickLease LLC, an innovator in the commercial equipment finance industry announced the successful closing of a $100 million credit facility with Credit Suisse and Hudson Cove Capital. Sector Financial Inc., an affiliate of Credit Suisse, provided access to the Credit Suisse debt facility. Clicklease, headquartered in Salt Lake City, UT, is disrupting small ticket equipment finance with its best-in-class technology and proprietary algorithms delivering instant credit decisions and funding, putting more control into the hands of its dealers.