Managing new client development for Asset-Based Loans in the Midwest for a large regional bank over the last 13 years, I witnessed a waxing trend where the direct client sourcing and execution of a financing transaction moved away from me in my single product role, as the deal originator, to a professional advisor in a corporate finance focused practice.

I began my career in asset-based lending in the early 1990’s with GE Capital in its training ground, auditing secured loan collateral. Then, most C&I lending practices at finance companies or banks were operated with a direct to corporate, and to a lesser extent, sponsor focus, as the PE market was in a less developed stage at that time. New business development officers cultivated relationships directly with prospective client’s C-suites and private equity deal sponsors. Middle market CFOs or PE deal teams typically ran their own sourcing process, calling their close-knit lender contacts when they had a financing need or possibly had a turnaround advisor aiding in this process if the situation was challenged.

When I joined Citizens, asset-based lending was conducted in a siloed business line with more flexibility around the deal structure. Like all the money center banks and most large regionals, ABL became a product set within Capital Markets with more templated structures subject to growing regulatory requirements imposed on banks since the Great Recession. Banks during this period also acquired or built up their investment banking practices and shifted direct client coverage to in house corporate finance teams focused on industry verticals or sponsor finance practices catering to the specific needs of the sponsors its practice covers, plugging appropriate product partners into the situation.

Independent Corporate Finance practices focused on capital raising began to spring up or grow out of middle market investment banks and turnaround consulting firms, that maintain or are referred into the client and sponsor relationships, and now arrange and place capital with the most appropriate funding source, independent of any one bank or private credit fund. Additionally, with the exit of GE Capital and other captives from the market and a huge flow of private funding into the traditional ABL and sponsor finance space, there is a much larger universe of potential direct lenders and relationships that the corporate suite or PE portfolio executive has to manage.

This trend became amplified during the pandemic as corporates retreated from broad lender connecting and went home or virtual. The shift ultimately coaxed me from the role in which I served as a product partner at the bank to building a corporate finance practice where I’ve reinserted myself as the trusted advisor to my long-term corporate clients and private equity relationships serving them as their capital advocate,:structuring, sourcing and closing on financings for acquisitions, refinancing, growth, recapitalizations and turnaround situations.

The financing and strategic advisory community has always worked closely together in special situations where recapitalization is necessary to affect the turnaround of a strained balance sheet in conjunction with a corporate restructuring. O’Keefe identified this trend as well and bolstered its Corporate Finance strength in 2020, bringing under its umbrella, Marco Eadie’s investment banking practice from Boulevard. O’Keefe’s seasoned team of strategic consultants and investment bankers was the perfect partnership to bring its resources and expertise to my corporate and sponsor clients. I am now able to offer a full suite of Capital Advisory, M&A, Strategic Consulting and Litigation Support when needed.

We’ve also seen an increase in Private Equity firms hiring O’Keefe and other advisors to outsource their debt raising process for every situation or in circumstances where the financing need is more specialized. O’Keefe provides a professional approach to raising new funding and allowing the sponsor’s partners and company executives to focus on completing acquisitions and running the business versus raising capital. We lead and manage the time-consuming recapitalization process. We underwrite the transaction and produce an information package that communicates the business opportunity to the lender universe. We then leverage our network of financing sources to solicit financing proposals from as many appropriate sources as possible creating an auction process and getting the best economics. We hope to be your first and only call when its time to talk strategy and execution on your next financing.