White Oak acquires Finacity following Greensill bankruptcy

Alternative asset manager White Oak Global Advisors has bought global trade finance platform Finacity in an acquisition deal, according to a news release.

The acquisition follows news earlier this year that supply chain finance firm Greensill Capital had filed for bankruptcy and would be selling Finacity. The amount of the transaction has not been publicly disclosed, but White Oak chief executive officer Andre Hakkak told Private Debt Investor in an interview that it was through a “complex structured acquisition”.

“Finacity’s size is much bigger than White Oak’s, so we were interested in teaming up with those guys for more scale, securitization and expertise in originating and underwriting trade finance receivables,” said Hakkak while also explaining that Finacity’s larger scale than White Oak’s in the investment grade category was another reason behind the deal.

Finacity transacts more than $100 billion in trade finance receivables each year through more than 50 financial institutions in 58 currencies, making it the largest non-bank trade finance platform in the world. The acquisition will help White Oak’s push into the $30 trillion asset-based working capital solution market, it said in the release.

“I am particularly excited about the new opportunities that collaboration with White Oak will open up through the combination of our market expertise and global scale,” said Adrian Katz, Finacity’s chief executive officer, in the release. Katz will remain in his position and will work closely with White Oak leadership.

The Stamford, Connecticut-based Finacity will rebrand as White Oak Finacity but still operate as a standalone business. With the acquisition, the San Francisco-based White Oak and its affiliates have more than 215 professionals working in credit solutions including asset-based lending commercial finance and clean energy lending.