Articles

In the beginning of the pandemic, we reported that courts viewed Article 9 sales with a more critical eye.  For example, we previously reported that Justice Masley of the New York Supreme Court, New York County Commercial Division, issued a  decision on June 23, 2020 in D2 Mark LLC v. OREI VI Investments, LLC, holding that a UCC Article 9 sale on thirty-six (36) days’ notice, which required the winning bidder to make a non-refundable deposit of 10% of the purchase price, pay the remaining balance within 24 hours, and precluded the borrower from submitting a bid, was commercially unreasonable because of the dire implications of COVID-19. Article: Lender Stayed From Proceeding With UCC Article 9 Sale

Vince Mancuso brings more than 30 years of experience in commercial finance, offering strategic leadership and deep industry insight to stakeholders and service partners.

Ares Commercial Finance (“ACF”) announced that Mitch Drucker has joined as a Partner. Mr. Drucker will be a part of the ACF leadership team comprised of Mitch Goldstein, Ryan Cascade, John Nooney and Oleh Szczupak.  He will also sit on the Investment Committee for ACF and be involved in all aspects of the business from origination to portfolio management.

PLAYSTUDIOS, Inc. (Nasdaq: MYPS) (“PLAYSTUDIOS” or the “Company”), an award-winning developer of free-to-play casual mobile and social games that offer real-world rewards to loyal players, announced today that it has entered into a new $75 million, five-year secured revolving credit facility (“New Credit Facility”) to support its future growth initiatives. The New Credit Facility also provides the Company with an option to increase the credit facility for up to an additional $75 million.

The Company entered into an incremental 364-day $200 million term loan (the "364-Day Loan") among several banks and other financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as administrative agent. The additional financing provided under the 364-Day Loan enhances the Company's liquidity during the unprecedented global impact of COVID-19. 

Encina Business Credit, LLC announced today that is has provided a $25 million senior revolving credit facility to an e-commerce retailer.

The senior secured revolving line of credit, which is collateralized by accounts receivable, and inventory, was used to provide working capital financing.  In addition, the facility offers a $10 million accordion feature that allows for future growth.

Financial analysis is a cornerstone for any credit administration function.  Each loan officer must know his or her borrowers and thorough financial analysis is the best way to start.

The goal of financial analysis is to link business events to changes in the balance sheet, income statement and cash flow to explain the company’s performance during the period under analysis.  Without this linkage you end up with “elevator analysis” (sales are up, AR is up, EBITDA is down, etc.) and no meaningful understanding of the company’s performance.

Where do you start?  EBITDA is often a starting point for many people.  Why?  It is a standard measure of performance in the banking and finance industry.  EBITDA is a measure of the profitability generated by a business before interest expense, tax expense and depreciation and amortization expense.  While this gives the analyst a place to start and some ability to compare to comparable companies, EBITDA should not be viewed as a proxy for cash generation ability. 

First Citizens Bank today announced that it has hired experienced banker Linda Stanley as a relationship manager in its Middle Market Banking business.

In this role, Stanley will be responsible for developing, maintaining and expanding client and prospect relationships in the middle market financing sector, where the bank is a leader.

Paragon 28, Inc. a market leading orthopedic medical device company focused exclusively on the foot and ankle, today announced that the Company has entered into a credit facility with MidCap Financial ("MidCap") providing Paragon 28 access up to $70 million in total credit.

What if I don’t want to come back?  Do I have to disclose whether I was vaccinated to my employer? What are the impacts of remote operations from a commercial real estate perspective? How does corporate culture survive in a remote or hybrid environment? What is the impact on career mobility? How are new technologies being deployed to revolutionize workflows and the customer experience in the equipment finance industry?

As the country continues to make its comeback after more than a year of fear and uncertainty from COVID-19, we are left with a lot of questions on what this all means about the work world—returning to offices and what the future will look like. In response to this, SFNet will host its first Innovation Conference, focusing on The Future of Work on July 14 and July 21, 2021 from 12:00-3:00 EDT each day. The Conference will focus on what the world of secured finance will look like as we emerge from the crisis. Attendees will walk away with the knowledge of whether their business is leading, adapting or falling behind.

Forrest Gump said, “Life is like a box of chocolates; you never know what you are going to get.” Partnering with other lenders can be similar. You don’t know what you are going to get if you jump into partnerships without doing your due diligence and establishing alliances with the best partners.

The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: PNC) and the Spanish financial group, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A. (NYSE and MAD: BBVA) today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement for PNC to acquire BBVA USA Bancshares, Inc., including its U.S. banking subsidiary, BBVA USA, for a purchase price of $11.6 billion to be funded with cash on hand in a fixed price structure.

BBVA USA Bancshares, with $104 billion in assets and headquartered in Houston, Texas, provides commercial and retail banking services through its banking subsidiary BBVA USA and operates 637 branches in Texas, Alabama, Arizona, California, Florida, Colorado and New Mexico. When combined with PNC's existing footprint, the company will have a coast-to-coast franchise with a presence in 29 of the 30 largest markets in the U.S.