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Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, announced today the appointment of Laurence Sax as Chief Operating Officer.

As COO, Sax will lead Gordon Brothers’ finance, accounting, treasury, financial planning, corporate development, and information technology functions.  He brings over 30 years of operating, finance, and turnaround and restructuring experience to the firm.

Tim Anderson of Hilco Valuation Services discusses Omnichannel appraisals, which are now more common than traditional brick-and-mortar appraisals.  

Kurt Marsden is the executive vice president and head of Wells Fargo Capital Finance, which provides traditional asset-based lending, equipment financing solutions, and specialized junior and senior secured lending to companies in the U.S., UK, and Canada.

Kurt joined Wells Fargo in 1992 through Capital Finance’s predecessor Foothill Capital Corporation, and has held many leadership roles in originations, portfolio management, and credit during his tenure, spanning all aspects of the company’s asset-based lending offerings.

Kurt holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration with an emphasis in finance and real estate from California State University, Northridge. He resides in Los Angeles with his wife and two children. Outside of the office, Kurt is active in his community as the Board President of Inclusion Matters by Shane’s Inspiration, which is a non-profit focused on promoting greater inclusion for children with disabilities.

The new credit facility consists of an $80 million term loan, with a $30 million undrawn revolver. It replaces OneWater’s former $110 million facility with Goldman Sachs Specialty Lending, which included a $10 million undrawn revolver. In addition, the new credit facility will maintain more flexible covenants and terms. OneWater has elected to use excess cash to make a significant paydown of the principal amount in conjunction with the refinancing. 

Truist Bank acted as the sole administrative agent, collateral agent, swingline lender and issuing bank, while SunTrust Robinson Humphrey, Inc. and Synovus Bank acted as joint lead-arrangers and joint bookrunners. 

A New Jersey bankruptcy judge said Wednesday that he would approve the nearly $89 million Chapter 11 sale of Sur La Table's assets to a private equity venture that bested a stalking horse offer and one other bidder during an auction earlier this month.

U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael A. Kaplan hailed the "tremendous" result of the Aug. 6 auction leading to an asset purchase agreement with SLT Lending JV, a joint venture between CSC Generation Holdings Inc. and Marquee Brands LLC. The deal will have SLT Lending buy the Seattle-based retailer's assets for $88.9 million and assume 50 store leases, which will save almost half of Sur La Table's brick-and-mortar presence.

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.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today announced that CIT Northbridge Credit, through its investment advisor CIT Asset Management LLC, served as sole lead arranger on a $20 million senior secured credit facility for Marquis Construction Services LLC.

Headquartered in Clute, Texas, Marquis Construction Services is a multi-disciplined, soft-craft provider of industrial and construction services, including scaffolding, insulation, sandblasting and painting, environmental abatement, fireproofing and industrial siding.

What of back rooms?

One important thing that we have learned over the recent past, through our observations of societal upheaval and current events, is that words matter.  Reflecting on the often-misleading references that are used in our lives, and industry, is an opportunity to open our minds, deepen our sensitivities, and expand our learning opportunities to what exists in our current collective reality.

I've often heard the term, back office, used by some ABL and/or other leaders within bank organizations.  Users of this term surely do not intend to be offensive, however, it is an outdated reference that has no place in the more complex secured lending operations of today. 

On March 9-11, we will bring ABCC to you live online, with the great content and opportunities for networking that you have come to expect from the conference. The Conference will be accessible through our acclaimed SFNet Connect Platform, offering hours of dedicated and facilitated meeting time each day. This year, we will be offering more insightful sessions than ever before.

“While we are all disappointed that we won’t be able to get together in person for this year’s event, the move to a virtual format has opened up many new possibilities for the actual content,” said Barry Bobrow, managing director, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC and ABCC Conference Chair. “ABCC has always been known for having rich and important content for attendees.  Without the requirement for our presenters to be in attendance in Las Vegas we have been able to significantly broaden and strengthen our content for 2021, with significantly more segments than we have been able to include in prior ABCC events. 

Five firms have contributed to the SFFound since its inception: Goldberg Kohn, Hahn & Hessen, Otterbourg, Skadden, and Winston & Strawn.  We would like to express our gratitude for their support. For information on becoming a supporter of SFFound, please click here. 

As more and more companies look at integrating sustainability into their business processes and strategy, there is still much room for growth in the green and sustainable finance market. The Covid-19 crisis is only expected to increase interest in this area.

A global thought leader on monetary policy, economics and finance, Danielle DiMartino Booth founded Quill Intelligence LLC and is their CEO & Chief Strategist. This is a research and analytics firm which publishes The Daily Feather and the Weekly Quill.

To build Quill Intelligence, she brought together a core team of investing veterans to analyze trends and provide critical analysis on what is driving the markets – both in the United States and globally.

DiMartino Booth set out to launch a #ResearchRevolution, redefining how markets intelligence is conceived and delivered with the goal of not only guiding portfolio managers, but promoting financial literacy.

Since its inception, commentary and data from The Daily Feather have appeared in financial media such as Bloomberg, CNBC, Fox Business, Institutional Investor, Yahoo Finance, The Wall Street Journal, MarketWatch, Seeking Alpha, TD Ameritrade, TheStreet.com, and more.

She will be speaking during SFNet’s Live Online Annual Convention, November 17-19, 2020.

Lizzy (pronounced LEE-see) Diaz-Ortiz is a Chicago-based attorney with over 15 years of experience leading culture change for organizations. Most recently, her efforts have focused on driving diversity and inclusion programs in which she helps organizations create a culture of belonging to drive better business results.

She grew up as a military brat living and working all over the world and spent her formative years in Germany, quite different than the rest of her extended Puerto Rican family. Her diverse experiences as an Army dependent laid the groundwork for a three-year professional stint in Mexico City as an adult. More importantly, it provided the foundation for her desire to work in the diversity, equity, and inclusion realm and advocate for equitable outcomes.