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Wells Fargo Equipment Finance (WFEF), a division of Wells Fargo Commercial Capital (WFCC), announced the appointment of three key leaders in its Specialty Industries business unit, led by Executive Vice President Byron Payne.   

Bobbi Acord Noland is a partner at Parker Hudson Rainer & Dobbs LLP in Atlanta, Georgia. As head of the Commercial Finance practice, Bobbi guides global banks, regional banks and finance companies through domestic and cross-border transactions ranging from $5 million to more than $1 billion. She has handled practically every aspect of commercial lending, from single-lender deals to syndicated facilities involving multiple lenders, borrowers, creditors and multi-tiered debt tranches. In addition, Bobbi frequently advises her clients on workouts and restructurings.

The following interview is a transcript from SFNet YoPro Committee member Matt Gillman, interviewing Andrew Bertolina of Finvoice in late 2019.  We hope you enjoy getting to know the industry’s young professionals. 

The bank syndicate supporting the credit facility is comprised of ten participants acting in various capacities, with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. as Administrative Agent, Bank of America, N.A. and Citizens Bank, N.A. as Co-Syndication Agents, Keybank National Association, TD Bank, N.A., BMO Harris Bank, N.A. and Wells Fargo Bank, National Association as Co-Documentation Agents, and J.P. Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., Bank of America, N.A. and Citizens Bank, N.A. as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Book Runners.

FTC Commercial Corporation was launched in 2002 with a strong focus on small and medium-size enterprise. Co-founder Ken Wengrod tapped into his experience, having worked in factoring and retail to create a company that understands the entire trade cycle of manufacturing and importing.

Gordon Brothers, the global advisory, restructuring, and investment firm, announced today the appointment of Laurence Sax as Chief Operating Officer.

As COO, Sax will lead Gordon Brothers’ finance, accounting, treasury, financial planning, corporate development, and information technology functions.  He brings over 30 years of operating, finance, and turnaround and restructuring experience to the firm.

Tim Anderson of Hilco Valuation Services discusses Omnichannel appraisals, which are now more common than traditional brick-and-mortar appraisals.  

Crestmark, the Commercial Finance division of PathwardTM, N.A., formerly known as MetaBank®, N.A., is pleased to announce the addition of five new members to its sales team, and the promotion of Dean Allman.

Allman joined Crestmark in 2018 as a national account executive, and now represents Crestmark Equipment Finance as the western region sales manager.  Richard Bollinger and William Houng Jr. have joined Crestmark Equipment Finance as national account executives and are based in San Diego and Los Angeles, California, respectively.  Robert Abraham, Andrew Disch and Nicholas Wagner have joined Crestmark as business development officers in the working capital group.

White Oak Commercial Finance, LLC (“White Oak”), an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors, LLC, announced it provided a $10 million factoring – inventory finance facility to a consumer electronics wholesaler and distributor serving public and private retailers in the US and international markets.

The funding was provided against the New Jersey-based company’s accounts receivable and inventory, which the firm will use to fund large-volume purchases to grow its business and provide competitive prices for top name-brand products.

Siena Lending Group LLC (“Siena”) announces the closing of a three-year $9.0 million revolving credit facility for the subsidiaries of Interactive Health, Inc., Human Touch LLC and Relax the Back Corporation. The asset-based credit facility was used to refinance existing debt and provide additional working capital to support business growth.

Kristen Holihan is a Senior Vice President, Senior Business Development Officer for Bank of America Business Capital (BABC), the asset based lending team at Bank of America. Kristen is responsible for identifying and engaging new ABL opportunities and working with potential borrowers to get a new ABL revolver structured and closed. She is focused on covering private equity groups, advisors, middle market companies, and large corporate companies, in both Metro New York and Upstate New York, to deliver these solutions. Kristen has also spent significant time as an ABL underwriter, as well as on the Leveraged Finance Origination and Capital Markets teams. Kristen graduated from Babson College in 2012 with a Bachelor of Science (concentration in finance). She will also be starting the Executive MBA Program at Columbia University in August 2021. Kristen is a member of the Diversity Equity and Inclusiveness Committee for the Secured Finance Network, as well as a member of the Diversity and Inclusion Council at Bank of America.

By now, most lenders and their counsel have heard about the February 16, 2021 decision of the U. S. District Court for the Southern District of New York in Citibank N.A. v. Brigade Capital Management, L.P, which held that certain lenders to Revlon who received payments by mistake from Citibank were in fact entitled to keep those payments. 

The magnitude of the funds transferred is just one of the eye-catching elements of the case.  On August 11, 2020, Citibank, which had been the agent for a syndicate of term lenders to Revlon, mistakenly transferred approximately $900 million to a group of the lenders.  According to Citibank, it had intended to send a much smaller amount, around $7 million, solely to cover an interest payment then due on the loans, but a problem with its loan processing system resulted in the overpayment.  Typically, you would expect lenders receiving the money by mistake just to return it—after all, you never know when you might be the one mistakenly sending the money.  And, in fact, a number of the lenders did just that—but one group, did not. 

White Oak Commercial Finance ("White Oak"), an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors, is pleased to welcome Mike Earnhart as Senior Vice President, Managing Director of Originations. Mr. Earnhart will be based in Los Angeles with national coverage responsibilities.

Mr. Earnhart is an accomplished financial industry executive with in-depth experience in factoring, asset-based lending, banking and territory sales management. He served on the Board of The Professionals Club and was formerly the Committee President of City of Hope’s Fashion & Retail Group, where he is still an active member.