Articles

The last 18 months have brought challenges unlike no other. Stewart Hayes, chair of the SFNet 2021 40 Under 40 Awards and managing director, Wells Fargo Capital Finance, sat down with four former SFNet 40 Under 40 Award winners who led their company or group practice during 2020-2021 to dive into how they addressed challenges, what helped prepare them to weather the COVID crisis, and advice on handling the next curveball.

Siena Lending Group LLC ("Siena"), a leading independent asset-based lending company, today announced it has increased its senior credit facility with Wells Fargo Capital Finance to $400 million. This upsize will enable Siena to continue its growth following the firm’s historic results in the second quarter of 2021, when it closed more than $220 million in credit facilities for middle-market businesses across the country.

SFNet is your advocate at the state and federal level. See below for current legislative issues SFNet is working on relevant to secured finance. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to the Advocacy Committee Staff Liaison, Michele Ocejo.

The nation’s largest retailer of maternity wear has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid sagging sales, increased competition and changing customer tastes.

Destination Maternity listed $260 million in assets and $240 million in debts in its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The company, which in August announced it was reviewing strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, said the process has “already yielded indications of interest from several credible bidders.” 

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to Huntington.  Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor to Huntington.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel Company, is serving as financial advisor to TCF.  Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to TCF.

The introduction of the novel coronavirus pandemic into the global economy starting in late 2019 created a level of disruption not seen perhaps since the world’s last major conflicts.  As we move through what we hope to be the later stages of the pandemic, we thought it might be helpful to explore its impact on the trade credit insurance marketplace and highlight what we can anticipate in the months and year ahead.

Throughout the world, surges in cases of the virus caused a significant portion of the global economy to shut down in a manner that was/is unprecedented in recent history.  This significant curtailment of economic activity brought most of the service sector (travel and leisure, entertainment/restaurant industry) and a big segment of the manufacturing sector to either grinding halts or intermittent disruptions.  Consumer demand dropped and unemployment spiked.  As economies reopened, rebounds were relatively sharp, but left many countries still well below prior levels of economic activity and currently, a second round of lockdowns continues to beleaguer a good number of countries.

The Secured Finance Network (formerly Commercial Finance Association) held its 13^th Annual International Lending Conference at DLA Piper in London, May 21-23. Attendees heard from a variety of leaders discussing the critical issues and opportunities relating to cross-border lending including looming economic upheaval, potential recession and geopolitical uncertainty.

esVolta, LP today announced that it has closed an approximately $140 million senior secured credit facility to finance a portfolio of its utility-scale battery energy storage projects. The credit facility was provided by CIT’s Power and Energy business as the Mandated Lead Arranger, and Siemens Financial Services (SFS), CoBank, ACB, and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. as Joint Lead Arrangers.

Wingspire Capital LLC (“Wingspire”) announced that it has agented a $100 million credit facility consisting of an $80 million senior credit facility (co-led by Ares Commercial Finance) and a $20 million second lien credit facility (provided by Atalaya Capital Management) to Rubies II, LLC (“Rubies II”).

Proceeds from the financing were used to purchase substantially all of the assets of Rubie’s Costume Company, Inc. (“Rubie’s”) via a Chapter 11 363 sale process.  Proceeds will also be used to fund the on-going working capital needs of Rubies II. 

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.

Conducive factors include high market liquidity, low interest rates, accommodative Fed policy and a vaccination against COVID-19

The year 2021 is shaping up to be a strong and supportive one for leveraged finance, led primarily by merger-and-acquisition (M&A) and refinancing activity, according to the Capital Markets group at Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG). 

Key members of the group delivered their outlook for leveraged finance to reporters and editors at a virtual MUFG media roundtable earlier this month that featured Jeffrey Knowles, Co-Head of Debt Capital Markets; Grant Moyer, Head of Leveraged Capital Markets; and Art de Peña, Head of Loan Syndications and Distribution.

Wingspire Capital LLC (“Wingspire”) announced today that it has provided a $50 million senior secured revolving credit facility to Vantage Mobility International (“VMI”), a leading manufacturer of wheelchair accessible vans with in-floor ramp systems.

VMI is using the proceeds to finance its inventory of vans purchased from original equipment manufacturers and fund its normal working capital cycle.