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SG Credit Partners provides situational capital ranging from $1-$10 million for the lower middle market with a focus on non-sponsored businesses. Headquartered in Southern California with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago and Portland, the SG Credit Partners team has provided in excess of $250 million to 150-plus borrowers across a variety of industries and continues to expand its national footprint. Here, Marc discusses SG Credit’s efforts in going from a niche lender to a broader platform in order to better work with asset-based lenders and banks and why they are broadening their scope.

H.I.G. Capital, LLC ("H.I.G."), a leading global alternative investment firm with over $52 billion of capital under management, is pleased to announce that Daniel Rosenthal Ayash, Bernice Berschader and Micael Hagelin have joined the firm’s Capital Formation Group, based in H.I.G.’s London office.

Daniel joins as a Managing Director and is responsible for managing H.I.G.’s European client partnerships for the firm’s global private equity platform. Prior to H.I.G., Daniel was a Managing Director in Eaton Partners’ Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) private funds group. Prior to joining Eaton, he was Head of European Fundraising for Patria Investimentos, where he was responsible for all European fundraising.

Refinitiv’s director of analytics shares with readers the latest data surrounding the syndicated market.

The whole financial world is working to move away from Libor and other interbank lending benchmarks, which for decades have been used to set borrowing costs on bonds and loans, as well as products ranging from derivatives to credit cards. Since 2018, more than $150 billion worth of bonds have been sold using rates set by a new generation of benchmarks. The syndicated loan market is lagging far behind, with at least $12 trillion of deals needing to be replaced or rewritten so they follow a Libor alternative. There are no easy fixes in sight despite potential deadlines as early as this year.

As the Secured Finance Network and its members have examined the Main Street Lending Program, there have been two aspects of the program in particular that have been identified as impacting on the utility of the program for borrowers from asset-based lenders. 

Both points, along with some others, have been raised in letters from the Secured Finance Network to the Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve.  And the Secured Finance Network has followed up with specific questions to Treasury arising from the “Main Street Lending Program Frequently Asked Questions” published on July 31, 2020 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston (the “FAQs”) in understanding what is permitted under the Program that could significantly impact how it may be used with an asset-based facility.

As of March 31, 2021 the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 8.1 million job openings, with 3.1 million open jobs in the south, 1.8 million jobs in the west, 1.3 million jobs in the northeast and 1.8 million jobs in the Midwest. Private job openings are 7.3 million of the total job openings, with 0.8 million government jobs open. The private job openings are across all industries.

The unemployment rate by state varies dramatically from 2.9% in Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah and Vermont to 8.3% in California, Connecticut, and New Mexico, 8.5% in New York and 9.0% in Hawaii. The overall unemployment rate is 6.1%.

Gerber has established this new division alongside its parent company, eCapital Corp., ("eCapital"), a leading alternative finance provider, to help companies grow and achieve their mission by accelerating their access to capital. The new division will be led by Senior Vice President Entela Semini, who will serve as Northeast director of Gerber+.

Lending to companies with just a few million dollars in earnings is gaining greater interest from investors seeking higher yields and better protections as the private credit market grows increasingly segmented and sophisticated.

Firms are looking to raise funds to target companies in the lower middle market, or companies with an Ebitda of less than US$15m, including Deerpath Capital Management, which wants to raise US$1bn for its lower middle market fund, and PineBridge Investments, which announced it has US$596m to invest. At the same time, Main Street Capital Corp said it is continuing to seek opportunities in this segment.

Vernon Francois grew up in a Rastafarian household where the weekly tradition was having his hair braided every Sunday. The experience was so painful that he decided to learn how to braid hair himself, using carpets and window shade edges as practice.

All that practice paid off. When he was just Vernon Francois grew up in a Rastafarian household where the weekly tradition was having his hair braided every Sunday. The experience was so painful that he decided to learn how to braid hair himself, using carpets and window shade edges as practice.

Nneoma Maduike of Otterbourg P.C. discusses the impact a diverse team can have on a company’s performance.

As circumstances are moving rapidly, companies and their lenders are dealing with unprecedented times.  While companies try to determine the full impact of the current economic tailspin on their businesses, lenders are looking to understand their risks and how they can respond to them.

The credit agreement sets out the rules of the road for the relationship between a company and its lenders.  In the list of credit agreement provisions set out below we attempt to provide a map for the secured lender for navigating those rules, anticipating where there may be bumps or wrong turns and providing some guidance for where a lender may go in the credit agreement to determine its path when confronted with a borrower in distress.