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This year’s YoPro Leadership Summit, held virtually August 26-27, 2020 brought together the young professionals of the secured finance industry for opportunities to hear from industry leaders, connect with peers, and to discover together how to find success in the post-COVID environment. This year's theme was "Succeeding in the New Environment."

Citizens Commercial Banking announced today that it is providing a $42 million asset-based credit facility to New York-based Stoli Group USA, an importer, marketer and distributor of Stolichnaya vodkas, along with other spirits and wines in the United States. Citizens is the sole lender.

Forever 21 said it received $275 million in financing from its existing lenders with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as agent, and $75 million in new capital from TPG Sixth Street Partners, and certain of its affiliated funds.

Gibraltar prides itself on its ability to provide companies and their private equity sponsors with flexible financing and maximum liquidity, based on our ability to understand each business’ special situation. This enabled us recently to provide Texas-based Easy Gardener Products, Inc, a $20 million credit facility to help with a restructuring.

Easy Gardener designs, manufactures, and sells a broad range of consumer lawn and garden products. It sells its products under several well-known patented and trademark brands such as WeedBlock, Jobe's, Emerald Edge, Landmaster, Ross, and Jobe’s Organics. Its customer base includes longstanding relationships over a 20- to 30-year period with a robust network of large national home improvement and mass merchant retailers as well as local hardware stores and independent garden centers and nurseries.

Second Avenue Capital Partners, LLC (“SACP”) (www.secondavecp.com), announced today it has provided a $12,500,000 senior secured credit facility to Carlisle Etcetera, LLC (the “Company”), a direct-to-consumer women’s luxury apparel brand. 

The financing was arranged on behalf of project sponsor Idemitsu Renewables (formerly Solar Frontier Americas), a leading solar project developer that has successfully built and sold hundreds of megawatts of utility-scale solar power since 2015. The project will sell power to Intermountain Rural Electric Association (IREA), a nonprofit electric distribution cooperative based in Sedalia, Colorado.

Wells Fargo Strategic Capital, a division of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), announced Dr. Rodney Altman as the newest managing director in its Healthcare Group, effective immediately. Altman, also a part-time physician at Stanford University Medical Center, is based in San Francisco and will work alongside the other members of the Healthcare Group, including John Ryan, Christine Guo, and Robert Rein.

Piper Sandler & Co. acted as financial advisor to Banc of California in the transaction and delivered a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of Banc of California. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal counsel to Banc of California. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, Inc., a Stifel Company, acted as financial advisor to Pacific Mercantile and delivered a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of Pacific Mercantile. Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP served as legal counsel to Pacific Mercantile.

Capital One has entered into an agreement to acquire KippsDeSanto & Co. a leading investment banking firm focused on serving growth-oriented aerospace/defense, government services and technology companies. Based in Tysons Corner, Va. in the Washington, DC region, KippsDeSanto has a national practice specializing in merger and acquisition advisory services.

New Fortress Energy LLC (NASDAQ: NFE) ("New Fortress" or the "Company") announced today that it has executed a fully committed $800 million term loan facility (the "Term Loan Facility") provided by certain funds and accounts managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "Apollo") (NYSE: APO).

The credit facility has an accordion feature, which allows the Company to increase the size of the credit facility to up to $500 million. On the closing date, the Company drew down $215 million of notes from the credit facility.

XL Funding provides floorplan loans to auto dealers in more than a dozen markets, and will use the funding to refinance a previous bank loan and extend capital to more small and medium-sized dealers in populous states including California, Texas and Florida.

Wingspire was attracted to XL Funding’s position of strength as consumers pursue affordable pre-owned automobiles amid the uncertain economy and a desire for “private” transportation during the coronavirus pandemic.

Huntington Business Credit announced it closed a new $13,400,000 credit facility with Dutchland Plastics, LLC on December 20, 2019.  Proceeds of the facility were used to refinance existing debt and provide ongoing working capital growth financing.        

MidCap Business Credit announced today they have closed on an $8,000,000 asset-based credit facility for a manufacturer of precision components and assemblies in the aerospace and defense industry. The opportunity was sourced out of MidCap’s office located in West Hartford, CT. 

The Federal Paycheck Protection Program loan funds did buy many struggling businesses time to weather the proverbial economic storm. Plus, secured lenders, not surprisingly, found it much more advantageous to work with borrowers and extend liquidity than deal with a bankrupt business. The idea was simply that the pandemic couldn’t last forever and that the economy, as it is now, does appear to be on the mend.

Asset-based lenders were aware of the problems going into the pandemic. Not surprisingly, brick and mortar retailers, already facing significant financial stress before the shutdown, did take the brunt of the pandemic and many were forced to shutter stores, says Dan Karas, executive vice president of Allied Affiliated Funding, a division of Axiom Bank, N.A. Many large retailer liquidations dominated 2020, including J.C. Penney and Pier 1. The silver lining for lenders, as it turns out, is that liquidations were generally not the order of the day for most businesses, he adds. According to data from Epiq, commercial Chapter 11 filings grew year-over-year, up 29% in 2020 compared to 2019.