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The Secured Finance Network (formerly Commercial Finance Association) held its 13^th Annual International Lending Conference at DLA Piper in London, May 21-23. Attendees heard from a variety of leaders discussing the critical issues and opportunities relating to cross-border lending including looming economic upheaval, potential recession and geopolitical uncertainty.

esVolta, LP today announced that it has closed an approximately $140 million senior secured credit facility to finance a portfolio of its utility-scale battery energy storage projects. The credit facility was provided by CIT’s Power and Energy business as the Mandated Lead Arranger, and Siemens Financial Services (SFS), CoBank, ACB, and KeyBanc Capital Markets Inc. as Joint Lead Arrangers.

Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC is serving as financial advisor to Huntington.  Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz is serving as legal advisor to Huntington.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods, a Stifel Company, is serving as financial advisor to TCF.  Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP is serving as legal advisor to TCF.

White Oak Commercial Finance ("White Oak") closed a working capital credit facility with Mana Products Inc. ("Mana"), a developer and manufacturer of high-end beauty products based in New York, at the end of the first quarter.

The innovative beauty products company has been in business for over 40 years developing formulas for some of the world’s leading beauty brands and was recently acquired by Traub Capital, an experienced private equity firm specialized in building value in consumer companies. The funding will support Mana’s growth and market opportunities.

(Editor’s Note: This is the beginning of a new interview series by Charlie Perer of SG Credit Partners.)

In this installment of our series of executive interviews, Charlie Perer sits with Ken Pardue to understand his plans to grow Triumph, the pace of change in the ABL business and state of the market, among other things.

From Disruption to Transformation. SFNet Responds to Meet the Needs of the Industry

The Secured Finance Network has hired Morten Kucey as Chief Value Officer, a newly created position. Prior to joining the SFNet team, Morten served as Senior Managing Director, Head of Corporate Development for SB360 Capital Partners, LLC.

Antonio McKinney is a business intelligence analyst with over 10 years of professional sales, workforce management and factoring experience. Antonio is an HBCU alumni, hailing from Langston University with a bachelor’s degree in Business Management. He currently works for TBS Factoring, LLC as the embedded analyst for the accounting division. Antonio resides in Oklahoma where he enjoys spending time with his wife and their 8-month-old daughter.

At the 2004 Athens Olympics, American air-rifle shooter Matt Emmons, the reigning world champion in the 50-meter three-position event, held a seemingly insurmountable lead.  Going into his final shot, Emmons was in first place and needed only a mediocre score to win gold.  Emmons aimed, fired, and hit his target – the wrong target, one lane over.  He received no score for that shot and finished in eighth place.  

Emmons’ mistake illustrates the importance of aiming at the right target.  In April of 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department announced the Main Street Loan Program (the “MSLP”), which was designed to provide emergency liquidity to small and mid-sized businesses.  Although well-intentioned, the MSLP, like Emmons, was aimed at the wrong target, and ultimately missed the mark.

8minute intends to use the credit facility to arrange purchase power agreements and interconnection agreements associated with its development pipeline of solar and storage projects representing 18 gigawatts of power in California, Texas and the southwestern United States.

The parent company of Webster Bank announced Monday it would merge with the parent company of Sterling National Bank in an all-stock deal worth about $10.3 billion.

The new company will locate its headquarters in Stamford — an agreement that marks the second blockbuster transaction this year for Connecticut’s banking sector.

Waterbury-based Webster Financial Corp.’s union with the Pearl River, N.Y.-based Sterling Bancorp would create a bank with about $63 billion in total assets, $52 billion in deposits and more than 200 branch locations in the northeast U.S. The merger is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2021.

Otterbourg P.C. announced today that Thomas P. Duignan has been named co-chair of the firm’s Finance Department.

Mr. Duignan represents many prominent banks, commercial finance companies and other institutional lenders in connection with a wide range of transactions. He will join co-chair David Morse in guiding a financial group at Otterbourg that is firmly established as an industry leader.

Interview with Betty Hernandez, chair of SFNet’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness Committee.

U.S. health officials say Americans should wear masks in public to combat the coronavirus. Financial support by CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is helping two California apparel makers create masks that protect with style. Sanctuary Clothing and Karen Kane, both Los Angeles-based clients of CIT's Commercial Services business, have rolled out stylish face masks that can be worn by consumers to provide another layer of protection against COVID-19 transmission when out in public. Both clothing companies are using proceeds from sales of fashion masks to help finance donations of masks to hospitals and other healthcare facilities.

The COVID-19 crisis of 2020, like a stress test for businesses and funders, created a landscape of winners and losers. For those passing the test, there are more lending options and potential buyers as M&A activity begins to sprout.

Some had a good “runway” ahead of the regional lockdowns; they were already digital companies or were well capitalized. Others enjoyed being in high-demand sectors such as groceries, technology, home goods, outdoor products, and delivery transportation.

For those companies that were well positioned or adapted quickly, business growth continues, and for those more challenged due to business restrictions, secured finance has been invaluable, along with government rescue loans. This was a repeated theme throughout the annual SFNet Convention held virtually November 17-19. This article covers many of the 34 presentations on the theme: “This Way Forward.”

LSQ, a leading provider of technology-driven working capital solutions, announced that the company originated a $7.5 million AR facility, including a $3.1 million payoff to the first position lender, for a resurging marketing services firm.

Demand for the firm’s services is normalizing following a COVID-related revenue slump in 2020. It will now have sufficient capital to fulfill a growing number of orders and 2021 business development goals via this new, larger facility with LSQ.

A Moritt Hock & Hamroff partner discusses the potential legal implications for companies that are not committed to diversity and inclusion as increasing shareholder pressures and legal complaints mount.