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The last 18 months have brought challenges unlike no other. Stewart Hayes, chair of the SFNet 2021 40 Under 40 Awards and managing director, Wells Fargo Capital Finance, sat down with four former SFNet 40 Under 40 Award winners who led their company or group practice during 2020-2021 to dive into how they addressed challenges, what helped prepare them to weather the COVID crisis, and advice on handling the next curveball.

Siena Lending Group Announces Credit Facility Increase to $400MM

Siena Lending Group LLC ("Siena"), a leading independent asset-based lending company, today announced it has increased its senior credit facility with Wells Fargo Capital Finance to $400 million. This upsize will enable Siena to continue its growth following the firm’s historic results in the second quarter of 2021, when it closed more than $220 million in credit facilities for middle-market businesses across the country.

February 2020: Financial Disclosure & Licensing Bills Affecting Industry

SFNet is your advocate at the state and federal level. See below for current legislative issues SFNet is working on relevant to secured finance. If you have any questions or comments, please reach out to the Advocacy Committee Staff Liaison, Michele Ocejo.

Destination Maternity Files Chapter 11, Store Closings Likely; Looks for Buyer

The nation’s largest retailer of maternity wear has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection amid sagging sales, increased competition and changing customer tastes.

Destination Maternity listed $260 million in assets and $240 million in debts in its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. The company, which in August announced it was reviewing strategic alternatives, including a possible sale, said the process has “already yielded indications of interest from several credible bidders.”

Huntington Business Credit Announces $8 Million in Credit Facilities for Executive Cabinetry, LLC

Huntington Business Credit announced it closed new $8,000,000 credit facilities with Executive Cabinetry, LLC on May 4, 2021. Executive Cabinetry, LLC is a portfolio company of Gridiron Capital, a middle market private equity firm headquartered in New Canaan, CT. Proceeds of the facilities were used to refinance existing indebtedness and to provide ongoing working capital growth financing.

Wintrust Business Credit Announces National Expansion

Wintrust Business Credit (WBC), the asset-based lending (ABL) unit of Wintrust Commercial Banking, today announced plans to expand its geographic reach from a regional provider to a national ABL platform.

Since its founding in 2008, WBC has provided best-in-class asset-based lending solutions with a focus on middle-market businesses in the Wintrust footprint.

SFNet Network Notes

Wingspire Capital Provides $40.0 Million Senior Secured Loan to Save-A-Lot

Wingspire Capital Holdings (“Wingspire”) today announced that it has provided a $40.0 million senior secured loan to Moran Foods, LLC d/b/a Save-A-Lot. (“Sav-A-Lot”). Wingspire’s loan was part of a $150.0 million revolving line of credit among a group of three lenders. Loan proceeds were used to repay existing debt and support Save-A-Lot’s operations and acceleration of its transformation plan.

U.S. Bank Names Troy Remington as Chief Credit Officer

U.S. Bank announced today that it has named Troy Remington as chief credit officer. Remington has been serving as interim chief credit officer since early August, when the former chief credit officer accepted a new leadership role within the company. Remington will report to Jodi Richard, U.S. Bank’s chief risk officer.

A Message to the Secured Finance Community

It’s been quite a week with developments unfolding at an accelerated pace and giving rise to much thought about the way forward. Rightly so, we are all taking steps to protect our loved ones, our colleagues, our clients, our businesses and our economies. The Secured Finance Network is a mission- driven, global trade association committed to putting capital to work. In times of disruption, our industry demonstrates our essential leadership and vitality.

Legacy Corporate Lending Strengthens Portfolio and Underwriting Team with Appointment of T.C. Wilde as Executive Vice President

Legacy Corporate Lending, LLC (“Legacy”), an independent asset-based lending (ABL) company focused on serving the needs of middle market companies across North America, today announced the appointment of T.C. Wilde as Executive Vice President of Portfolio and Underwriting and Head of Portfolio.

Post-Crisis Field Examinations

Significant disruptions in credit quality have facilitated the need for field examiners to be on alert for situations that are generally not prevalent in a more stable environment.

UMB Capital Finance Strengthens Business Development Team with New Hire Doug Motl

Doug Motl joins UMB Capital Finance as Senior Vice President, Director of Originations to manage its rapidly expanding business development department initiatives. Doug will be responsible for leading the Asset Based Lending’s originations team as UMB continues to broaden its marketing efforts nationally across the Company’s platform.

Crestmark Provides More Than $42.3 Million in Commercial Financing to 112 Businesses in the Second Half of January

Crestmark secured a total of $12,000,000 in ABL financial solutions for nine new clients; Crestmark Equipment Finance provided $12,156,249 in 12 new lease transactions; Crestmark Vendor Finance provided $7,472,296 in 87 new lease transactions; the Joint Ventures Division provided $994,451 in financing for one client; and the Government Guaranteed Lending Division provided $9,747,000 in financing for seven new clients in the second half of January.

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated Announces Additions To The Executive Leadership Team Structure For Combined Company Following TCF Merger

Huntington Bancshares Incorporated (Nasdaq: HBAN; www.huntington.com) today announced that Tom Shafer, CEO of TCF National Bank, will join Huntington's Executive Leadership Team as co-President of Commercial Banking following the completion of Huntington's merger with TCF, which is expected to occur late in the second quarter, subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions.

Mike Jones, President & COO of TCF Bank, also will join Huntington's Executive Leadership Team as Senior Executive Vice President. Jones will be Huntington's senior executive and community leader in Minnesota and Colorado as Chair for Minnesota and Colorado. He will be responsible for the strategic growth and expansion of Huntington in these critical markets, as well as for deepening Huntington's commitment to invest in local communities.

White Oak Commercial Finance Expands Asset-Based Lending and Lender Finance Team with New Hires

White Oak Commercial Finance (“WOCF”), an affiliate of San Francisco-based alternative investment manager White Oak Global Advisors, LLC (“White Oak”), today announced Andy McGhee, Susan Hall and Neal Mulford have joined the firm to further expand its asset-based lending (ABL) and lender finance capabilities.

Cambridge Savings Bank’s Commercial Lending Team Enables Expansion of R.J. Forbes Painting Contractor, Inc.

Cambridge Savings Bank (CSB), a full-service mutual bank with a customer-first approach and more than $5 billion in assets, today announces that its Commercial Lending team has extended financing to R.J. Forbes Painting Contractor, Inc. (R.J. Forbes) by securing a SBA 504 Loan through Bay Colony Development Corporation, a certified development company whose mission is to provide companies with fixed asset financing at affordable rates and reasonable terms.

Interview with Women in Secured Finance Conference Keynote Speaker Libby Gill

Libby Gill is a leadership speaker, executive coach and author. She is also is the CEO of Libby Gill & Company, an executive coaching and leadership consulting firm, guiding clients and their teams through change, challenge and chaos. Previously, Gill was senior vice president at Universal Studios Television, and vice president at Sony Pictures Television and Turner Broadcasting.

Libby is the author of five books, including the award-winning “You Unstuck, Capture the Mindshare and the Market Share Will Follow, and Traveling Hopefully. Her latest book is “The Hope-Driven Leader: Harness the Power of Positivity at Work.” She is a former columnist for The Dallas Morning News.

Great Rock Capital Closes $100 Million Leverage Facility with KeyBank National Association New Capital to Drive Great Rock’s Continued Growth

Great Rock Capital, an asset-focused commercial finance company specializing in middle market lending, announced the close of a $100 million leverage facility with KeyBank National Association, one of the nation’s largest bank-based financial services companies headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio.

The new facility will provide Great Rock Capital with further flexibility to offer creative financial solutions that maximize liquidity to middle market borrowers and will position the firm for continued growth.

Advocacy Alert: "Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2021"

Certainly, many people have heard about the “Stop Wall Street Looting Act of 2021”, the dramatically titled shot at the private equity business publicized by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, introduced in the House and the Senate on October 20, 2021. Given so many other major (and controversial) legislative initiatives, the bill does not seem to be gaining much traction—for now. At the same time, while the secured lending industry makes a lot of loans to businesses owned by private equity firms, the headlines around the proposed legislation do not suggest any direct impact on secured lenders. The bill certainly addresses matters relating to the private equity industry, with sections titled “Closing the Carried Interest Loophole”, “Restrictions on Securitizing Risky Corporate Debt” and other provocative terms, like “Anti-Looting” and includes sections providing for limitations on post-acquisition dividends and distributions as part of a reworking of basic principles of corporate law.

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