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First Eagle Alternative Credit Expands into Asset-based Lending; Larry Klaff and Lisa Galeota Join to Lead Effort

First Eagle Alternative Credit, LLC (“First Eagle” or the “firm” ) today announced that it has added asset-based lending solutions to its direct lending platform and appointed industry veterans Larry Klaff and Lisa Galeota to lead this initiative at the firm.

Klaff and Galeota join First Eagle from Gordon Brothers Finance Company, a majority-owned portfolio company of BlackRock Capital Investment Corporation, where they worked together and at its predecessor firm for over 13 years. During that time they sourced, originated and structured asset-based facilities valued at over $1 billion across a wide variety of industries. They will be based at First Eagle’s Boston office and will report directly to Chris Flynn, President of First Eagle Alternative Credit.

Banks and Independents Report Strong Performance In Secured Finance in First Half of 2019

As highlighted in the 2019 Secured Finance Market Sizing and Impact Study, the ABL market has, in recent times, benefited from a strong economy, low default rates, an abundance of complimentary capital and easing regulatory hurdles. For the first half of 2019 these tailwinds continued except for a brief disruption in the leveraged loan markets at the beginning of the calendar year.

SFNet Education Focus 20/20 Dynamic Educational Content is Key for Members

As the Secured Finance Network celebrates its 75th anniversary, its commitment to the education of its membership remains tantamount to the organization. Part of that commitment is making sure that secured lenders of all stripes are provided with the essential tools, training, and best practices to ensure their professional success.

Otterbourg Names James Cretella Chair of Alternative and Specialty Finance Practice Group

Otterbourg P.C. announced today that James M. Cretella has been named Chair of the firm’s Alternative and Specialty Finance Practice Group.

“His leadership qualities are equally impressive, and we are pleased that he will chair this expanding practice area.”

A member of the firm’s Finance Department, Mr. Cretella represents lenders, factoring companies and prominent financial institutions, as well as borrowers, in a variety of lending, factoring and corporate transactions.

Interview with Paul Cronin of Santander Bank

Coming up on almost one year as head of ABL at Santander Bank, Paul Cronin reflects back on his proudest accomplishments, goals and new challenges with COVID-19.

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Interview with Jim Cretella, Chair of Otterbourg’s Alternative and Specialty Finance Practice Group

In March, Otterbourg P.C. announced that James M. Cretella was named Chair of the firm’s Alternative and Specialty Finance Practice Group. A member of the firm’s Finance Department, Cretella represents lenders, factoring companies and other finance companies, as well as borrowers, in a variety of transactions.

Cretella has practiced at Otterbourg for his entire career and his experience encompasses financial transactions across a broad range of industries, including staffing, technology, transportation, oil and gas, and government contracting. His areas of focus include asset-based lending, supply chain finance, trade finance and specialty finance. He often acts as “outside in-house counsel” to finance companies and specialty lenders.

Cretella is a 2016 winner of the Secured Finance Network’s 40 Under 40 Awards.

Here he discusses his role and how the industry has evolved since he started.

Wingspire Capital To Acquire Liberty Commercial Finance

Wingspire Capital Holdings LLC (“Wingspire Capital”) announced an agreement to acquire Liberty Commercial Finance LLC (“Liberty”). Wingspire Capital is a portfolio company of Owl Rock Capital Corporation, a publicly traded business development company that is externally-managed by an indirect subsidiary of Blue Owl Capital Inc.

What Should Lenders Be Asking Now? Updated August 18, 2020

Two months ago we discussed the questions that lenders should be asking their borrowers as borrowers were beginning to finalize their June 30, 2020 results and report the initial impact of the Covid shutdown and the CARES Act program funds. With the end of August around the corner, the second quarter results and even July 2020 results are available.

It is time to consider updating and expanding discussions with borrowers looking toward the remainder of 2020.

The outline of questions is a guideline to facilitate a discussion focused on the thought processes the business is going through and the financial impact over the past few months and into the future. Open ended questions that encourage a discussion are the most important tools lenders can use to understand their borrowers and the impact of the Covid-19 situation.

Pacific Premier Bancorp, Inc. to Acquire Opus Bank, Creating a $20 Billion Banking Franchise in the Western United States

D.A. Davidson & Co. acted as financial advisor to Pacific Premier in the transaction and delivered a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of Pacific Premier. Holland & Knight LLP served as legal counsel to Pacific Premier. Piper Sandler & Co. acted as financial advisor to Opus and delivered a fairness opinion to the Board of Directors of Opus. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP served as legal counsel to Opus.

SFNet WISF Career Corner

This is a new feature providing advice from WISF members to young professionals on a specific topic. We need your input. If you have a question you would like to see answered in this column, please submit to Michele Ocejo at mocejo@sfnet.com.

Dear WISF,

“Once you are established within a job and/or have already experienced some degree of internal growth, what additional steps would you recommend to continue career growth and development? Early in the career, there are multiple paths and opportunities an early career individual can pursue. However, once in the mid-level, the continued growth opportunities may not be as bountiful.”

Black Olive Capital Announces Launch

An Inventory and Purchase Order Lending Platform Targeting $500K to $10MM Opportunities

Black Olive Capital LLC (“Black Olive”) announced today the launch of its intelligent inventory and purchase order lending platform. Black Olive’s mission is to provide fast and easy inventory and purchase order financing to underserved small-to-medium sized businesses (SMBs) to help them unlock capital to grow and create jobs. Its financing solutions work for businesses nationwide, and in most industries.

LSQ Creates $15MM Credit Facility, AR Management Program for Pennsylvania Coal Producer

LSQ, a leading provider of working capital finance and payments solutions, recently expanded its relationship with Wilson Creek Energy by originating a $15 million credit facility for the Pennsylvania-based metallurgical coal producer.

The company will use the additional capital to expand their operations and take on new clients.

As part of the solution, LSQ will also provide Wilson Creek with comprehensive accounts receivable and credit management to help better manage repayment risk and monitor customer health.

Citizens Leads $125 Million Credit Facility for Franchise Group, Inc.

Citizens announced today that it is lead left arranger of a $125 million asset-based loan for Virginia Beach, VA-based Franchise Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: FRG).

Franchise Group is an operator of franchised and franchisable businesses that continually looks to grow its portfolio of brands while utilizing its operating and capital allocation philosophy to generate strong cash flow for its shareholders. This transaction refinances an existing ABL for two of its businesses – American Freight and Buddy’s Home Furnishings.

IDB Bank Leads $100MM Revolving Credit Facility For Dwight Funding

IDB Bank (IDB), a New York-based private and commercial bank, has closed up to a $100 million asset-based revolving credit facility for Dwight Funding, a New York-based lender to modern brands and platforms. Dwight Funding was one of the first capital providers to focus on high growth, digitally native brands.

IDB was the sole lead arranger and administrative agent for Dwight's facility, signaling the Bank's growing position in the Lender Finance industry.

Anatomy of a Deal: Participations

At Haversine Funding, we take pride in offering unique and flexible alternatives to our clients. The adaptability built into our DNA allows us to provide senior and junior lines of credit - exclusively to factors and lenders - ensuring we don’t compete with our clients.

Software as a Service (“SaaS”) Lending is Going to Become Mainstream

It’s only a matter of time before SaaS lending enters mainstream ABL. Lending to SaaS, which stands for Software as a Service, differs from traditional software in that it is deployed and made accessible to users over the internet (or in the “Cloud”), and is going to be the next ABL battleground. Today it remains a niche lending vertical conducted mostly by tech-focused banks and nonbank credit funds. However, this is going to change meaningfully as the SaaS industry continues to mature. There are an estimated 10,000 private SaaS companies, the vast majority of which are early stage, generating less than $3 million in annual revenue. To put this in perspective, companies such as the wildly popular Zoom and workforce tool Slack utilize SaaS models. The U.S. economy is well into a transformational period where many business tools are moving to the cloud.

Castlelake Partners with Aequum Capital to Establish Specialty Lending Platform

Castlelake, L.P. ("Castlelake"), a global alternative investment manager with approximately 17 years of experience investing in asset-rich opportunities, and Aequum Capital Founder, LLC ("Aequum"), a tech-enabled specialty finance lender, today announced a partnership establishing a new commercial lending platform for the origination and servicing of efficient senior asset-backed loans to small and medium-sized businesses in the U.S.

Canada’s Anthem Entertainment Ups Spending Power by $550 Million with New Credit Facility

The acquisitive Canadian music rights and services company – formerly known as Olé Entertainment – has announced that it has secured a new revolving credit facility of USD $400 million, plus a USD $150 million accordion.

Truist Securities served as Left Lead Arranger of Anthem Entertainment’s new $400 million credit facility. Fifth Third Bank acted as Joint Lead Arranger, Union Bank acted as Syndication Agent and Regions Bank acted as Documentation Agent.

Other banks in the facility include Bank of America, Bank Hapoalim, CIT Bank, First Horizon Bank, HSBC Bank, Pacific Premier Bank, Pinnacle Bank and Scotiabank.

Lenders Reveal Slow Growth and Choppy Recovery After COVID-19

For almost 25 years, Phoenix Management Services has been collecting, tabulating, and analyzing the results from its “Lending Climate in America” survey to evaluate national lending attitudes and trends. Each quarter Phoenix’s proprietary “Lending Climate in America” survey is distributed to over 5,000 lenders nationwide. Results for the Q4/20 survey, which were received between 11/10/2020 and 11/24/2020, revealed optimism among lenders regarding the U.S. economy in the near-term. In the Q4/20 survey, their near-term expectations (i.e. how will the U.S. economy perform during the next six months) increased 33 points to a grade point average (GPA) of 2.05. However, lenders long-term expectations (i.e. how will the U.S. economy perform beyond the next six months) decreased 17 points to a GPA of 2.43. Our Q4/20 survey also indicates that lenders expect a) COVID-19 to cause slow growth and a choppy recovery for the U.S. economy, b) negligible effects in regard to a potential second stimulus, and c) that their customers will raise additional capital and make an acquisition in the long-term.

Modell’s Sporting Goods Voluntarily Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Modell’s Sporting Goods. America’s oldest family owned and operated retailer of sporting goods, athletic footwear, active apparel and fan gear, today announced that the Company has voluntarily filed for relief under Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code (“Chapter 11”) in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey on March 11, 2020.
“We are extremely appreciative of the support that our lenders (JP Morgan Chase and Wells Fargo), vendors and landlords provided during this difficult period, engaging in extensive renegotiation efforts and allowing us to pursue every possible avenue to preserve the jobs of our loyal associates..." Modell’s Chief Executive Officer, Mitchell Modell, said.

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