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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.

Despite Continued Difficulties, Small Business Owner Optimism Continues to Grow in Latest Wells Fargo Survey

Q3 study highlights improved future outlook tempered by significant near term headwinds

Small business owners have faced unprecedented challenges due to the pandemic and are in the midst of great uncertainty with the upcoming presidential election. However, the Q3 Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index indicates there is a continued spirit of forward-facing optimism among small business owners despite the persistent trials. The overall score rose 12 points from last quarter’s historic low-water mark, driven by a sharp rise in sentiment about future expectations. The overall positive movement in sentiment was contrasted by the third successive quarterly decline in optimism about current business conditions.

Interview with Dianne Wagman, Member of SFNet’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusiveness Committee

Dianne Wagman is a senior vice president, senior director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and Executive Talent Acquisition for Santander US.

Breakout Capital Secures $45 Million Credit Facility Led by Synovus Bank

Breakout Capital, a leading fintech company simplifying access to capital for small businesses, announced today the completion of a $45 million credit facility in which Synovus Bank will provide the senior credit facility and an Austin, Texas-based credit fund, will provide the subordinate credit facility. Under the terms of the agreement, Breakout may now obtain funding through Synovus by accessing $35 million of committed capacity with an additional $10 million uncommitted.

Blank Rome Welcomes Leading Finance Partners in Houston

Blank Rome LLP is pleased to announce that Cassandra G. Mott and Sarah H. Frazier have joined the firm’s Houston office as partners in its Finance, Restructuring, and Bankruptcy practice group. Cassandra and Sarah represent financial institutions, including commercial banks and non-bank lenders, as well as borrowers, in a variety of commercial transactions. They join Blank Rome from Holland & Knight LLP and were partners at Thompson & Knight before the two firms recently combined. At Thompson & Knight, Cassandra served as the firm’s Houston office leader and finance practice leader.

Interview with Patrick Lee, Managing Director, Head of Lender Finance, Asset-Based Lending, People’s United Bank

Recently, People's United Bank, N.A., a subsidiary of People's United Financial, Inc., announced it had expanded its Commercial Specialty Business with the formation of a dedicated Lender Finance team. The Team is led by Patrick Lee, managing director, head of Lender Finance, and is an extension of the Bank's existing Asset-Based Lending group. The Team will work with non-bank lender finance companies nationally to provide tailored solutions of $10MM or more to help them achieve their near and long-term growth objectives.

Here, Patrick Lee discusses his background and new role.

SFNet Annual and Q4 2020 ABL Survey Analysis

The fourth quarter of 2020 showed a tale of two cities between the bank lenders and the nonbank lenders. On a quarter-over-quarter basis, bank lenders in the fourth quarter showed flat total commitments with a drop in outstandings while the nonbanks showed double-digit percentage increases in both commitments and outstandings. At the bank level, new commitments approximated commitment runoffs, perhaps showing signs of stabilization while nonbanks increased on their third-quarter momentum of closing more deals than runoff in both commitments and outstandings. For both banks and nonbanks, there was a common theme of low utilization with the fourth quarter of 2020 showing the lowest utilization levels in recent history.

The quarterly report is segregated into a bank/non-bank classification while the annual report is combined, with specific bank/non-bank classifications in certain areas. Both surveys had comparable number of respondents with prior quarters and years with 34 participants for the annual survey and 35 participants for the quarterly survey.

SFNet 2020 President John DePledge Reflects on an Unprecedented Year

John DePledge, head of Asset Based Lending at Bank Leumi USA, discusses his tenure as SFNet president and COVID’s impact on plans.

Citizens Provides $30M Asset-Based Revolving Line of Credit to Ross-Simons

Citizens announced today that it has provided a new $30 million asset-based revolving line of credit to Cranston, R.I. based Ross-Simons, a leader in direct-to-consumer sales, specializing in offering unique and proprietary fine jewelry designs alongside a deep selection of classics such as diamond tennis bracelets and gold necklaces. Citizens is the Administrative Agent, Sole Lead Arranger and Sole Bookrunner.

Ross-Simons reaches consumers through a company-operated website, catalog, and its flagship retail store in Warwick, R.I. The company offers a wide selection of fine jewelry across a range of price points and is known for mixing materials and colors in unexpected combinations. The company was acquired earlier this month by Nonantum Capital Partners.

Phoenix Lending Survey Results Reveals COVID-19 Will Continue to Have a Major Effect on U.S. Performance Throughout 2020

From the third quarter Phoenix Management “Lending Climate in America” survey results reveal COVID-19 will continue to have a major effect on U.S. performance throughout 2020.

While lenders seem to believe COVID-19 will have a major effect on the U.S. performance until a vaccine is widely available, the outlook for the U.S. economy in the near and long-term is more favorable in Q3 2020 than in the previous quarter predictions. The near-term grade point average (GPA) increased 54 percentage points to 1.72 from the Q2 2020 GPA of 1.18. The projected outlook for the U.S. economy in the long-term increased slightly (by 36 percentage points) to 2.60 from the previous quarter’s results of 2.24.

North Mill Capital Announces the Acquisition of Summit Financial Resources

North Mill Capital, a wholly–owned subsidiary of Solar Senior Capital, has acquired Summit Financial Resources.

The Many Facets of Succession Planning

Succession planning is not a contingency plan. It is a core human resources function that builds and sustains shareholder value.

Cars Aren’t Dead: They’re Just Morphing into What Comes Next

If, indeed, the traditional car as we have known it is “dead”, and its current successors are likely to be short-lived placeholders for what is to come… to understand what’s next and how it will impact the asset-based valuations we perform in the automotive industry, it is necessary to first understand how we got here.

6 Considerations when Planning for a COVID19 Business Restart

By Jeff Wright

With so much uncertainty in the economy during this unprecedented health crisis, planning and communication are critical to any company’s survival. Much is being said about preserving cash. And it’s because we all know cash will continue to be king even when businesses restart operations.

Part II: Confronting the Banking Dilemma for State-Licensed Marijuana Businesses in the United States

This article analyzes the conflict between federal and state marijuana laws, and its impact on the inability of state-legal marijuana businesses to obtain traditional and fundamental types of banking services from federally insured banks. This article is divided into three parts: (i) an explanation of the conflict of state and federal marijuana laws; (ii) the effect of the conflicting laws on the decision of banking institutions to provide services to state-licensed marijuana businesses; and (iii) congressional and judicial attempts to resolve the conflict between state and federal marijuana laws.

This is the second article in a three-part installment about the banking dilemma for state-licensed marijuana businesses in the United States.

Greenbrier Announces Renewal & Extension of $1 Billion of Bank Facilities

The Greenbrier Companies, Inc. (NYSE: GBX) ("Greenbrier"), a leading international supplier of equipment and services to global freight transportation markets, today announced the renewal and extension of three bank facilities totaling over $1.0 billion. Greenbrier successfully renewed and extended its $600 million domestic revolving facility and $292 million term loan five years while its Greenbrier Leasing subsidiary's non-recourse $200 million term loan was renewed and extended six years.

Colorescience® Announces Successful Completion of $30 Million Debt Financing Supporting Continued Growth in Core Channels

Colorescience, an industry-leading, science-based, and health-focused skincare company announced today the successful completion of a $30 Million debt financing with K2 HealthVentures (K2HV), a healthcare-focused specialty finance company. This debt facility strengthens the Company’s balance sheet in a non-dilutive fashion and increases financial flexibility to support continued growth in its core channels.

Meet YoPro Entrepreneur Matt Gillman, CEO of SMB Compass

Avi Levine, vice president at Star Funding, Inc., sat down with Matthew Gillman, CEO of SMB Compass, a bespoke business financing company focused on providing financing and education to small businesses across the United States. Matt discusses starting up SMB Compass and the challenges he faces as a young entrepreneur.

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