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The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on Monday announced that the Main Street Lending Program is now fully operational, ready to purchase participations in eligible loans that are submitted to the program by registered lenders.  The Federal Reserve encourages lenders to begin submitting qualifying loans.

“This is an important milestone for the Main Street program,” said Eric Rosengren, president of the Boston Federal Reserve Bank, which is administering the program for the Federal Reserve System. “Given the pandemic’s shock to the economy, and its uncertain duration, support for businesses and their employees through bank lending is critical.”

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is serving as legal counsel to the Company, Lazard Ltd. is serving as the Company's investment banker, and Berkeley Research Group is serving as the Company's financial advisor.

The Extended Term Loan Lenders are represented by Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz as legal counsel and Ducera Partners LLC as investment banker.

Kudu Investment Management, LLC, (Kudu) a provider of permanent capital solutions to asset and wealth managers globally, today announced the closing of a $300 million credit facility with Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company (MassMutual), a leading U.S. mutual life insurance company, to finance Kudu's growth initiatives.

The COVID-19 pandemic has weighed on the global economy, created volatile indexes, clogged supply chains, shuttered factories, disrupted shipping and limited the sale and movement of goods worldwide. Since supply chains are complex systems of manufacturing, transportation, equipment, personnel and processes to move products from one location to the next within a strict time frame, the past year has created major bottlenecks and bubbles.

The economic impacts of the pandemic became more severe and widespread with each new outbreak in 2020. With more shutdowns imminent in 2021 as new, more contagious strains of the coronavirus spread, supply chain and economic challenges will continue, hurting earnings and further destabilizing struggling retailers. At the same time, these challenges have created paths to profitability for those who have the capacity to operate. Retailers and consumers alike will likely continue to experience delays, an uneven supply of goods, elevated prices for certain items and discounts on others.

Although experts generally agree that networking is important to career success, a surprisingly large number of professionals dread the process to the point that the mere mention of the word makes them anxious and irritated. Lynn Tanner of Winston and Strawn provides a detailed “cheat sheet” for taking the pain out of networking.

White Oak ABL (“White Oak”), an affiliate of White Oak Global Advisors, LLC, announced it funded and arranged a $99.5 million senior secured credit facility to an international infant and toddler toy and product manufacturer to finance the company’s growth and ongoing working capital.

The senior secured credit facility consists of an $80 million working capital facility secured by receivables and inventories in the US, UK, Netherlands, and Hong Kong and a $19.5 million IP term loan. White Oak is the agent for the working capital facility and Gordon Brothers is the agent for the IP term loan with White Oak as a co-lender.

It brings together complementary strengths with First Citizens’ low-cost retail deposit franchise and full suite of banking products and CIT’s national commercial lending franchise and strong market positions.

CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) today announced that its Asset-Based Lending team served as administrative agent for a new $185 million senior secured, asset-based credit facility for Orscheln Farm and Home LLC, a leading retailer of farm supplies, home improvement essentials and general merchandise.

LBC Credit Partners (“LBC”), a leading provider of financing solutions to middle market companies, provided a senior secured credit facility to support the acquisition of EDSCO Fasteners LLC (“EDSCO” or the “Company”) by MiddleGround Capital. LBC served as Agent and Sole Lead Arranger for the senior secured credit facility.

Borrowers face an uphill battle when conducting an internet search for capital. Lee Haskin of Crossroads Financial discusses the misinformation out there and offers clarifications concerning certain types of finance products.

Quarterly peer-to-peer interactive conversations will focus on relevant, high-impact issues among professionals in Credit, Operations & Technology, Business Development, Factoring, Legal, SFNet 40 Under 40 Alumni and Hall of Fame/Past Presidents Mentoring.

Henry Sosa is director – account executive at CIT Northbridge Credit. Here he discusses SFNet's Diversity, Equality and Inclusiveness (DEI) Committee.

This article was originally published April 2021. Updated October 2022.

Jeffrey Goldrich, SFNet’s 2021 president, has been in the asset-based lending and factoring business for over 40 years. He founded North Mill Capital, as its president and CEO, with its management group in 2010. In 1995 he co-founded, as a shareholder and COO, Business Alliance Capital Corp (BACC), a national commercial finance company based in Princeton, New Jersey. Goldrich and his partner sold BACC to Sovereign Bank (now Santander) in 2005.

Prior to that, he was a senior vice president and manager of the asset-based lending department of First Fidelity Bank in Newark, New Jersey.

The onset of the pandemic has certainly changed the fundraising and investing landscape for private equity and other types of alternative financing. While most acknowledge that the lack of face-to-face meetings has made the fundraising process and due diligence on deals more difficult, the PE industry and related players remain a resilient lot. Even with the country’s shutdown and the resulting economic problems, private equity firms are prioritizing their existing portfolios, working to figure out ways to shore up these companies.