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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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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