Business Development Corporation of America Buys Siena Capital Finance
Business Development Corporation of America, a non-traded business development company affiliated with Benefit Street Partners, has purchased a controlling interest in Siena Capital Finance, an asset-based lender, from Solaia Capital Advisors.
Business Development Corporation of America, a non-traded business development company affiliated with Benefit Street Partners, has purchased a controlling interest in Siena Capital Finance, an asset-based lender, from Solaia Capital Advisors. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Siena, which will operate independently as a portfolio company of BDCA, offers asset-based loans typically between $3 and $30 million to small and middle market businesses across the United States. The company was founded in 2012 by an ABL team backed by Solaia. Since it was established, Siena has underwritten more than 100 transactions totaling more than $1 billion in total credit facilities.
“Siena represents a compelling investment opportunity for BDCA. We are excited to partner with David Grende and Siena’s seasoned management team,” noted BDCA CEO Richard Byrne. “Siena will complement our core private debt business and will broaden the suite of financing solutions that we can provide to clients.”
Affiliates of Solaia will retain a minority ownership interest in Siena. In addition, Solaia and BDCA intend to collaborate on future projects together.
BDCA, formerly managed by AR Global, primarily invests in senior secured loans, and to a lesser extent, mezzanine loans, unsecured loans and equity of private middle-market companies. The company commenced its initial public offering in January 2011 and raised $1.9 billion before closing the offering in April 2015. As of the third quarter of 2018, BDCA held investments in loans it made to investee companies with total principal amounts of $2.5 billion.
Benefit Street Partners is a credit-focused alternative asset management firm with approximately $26 billion in assets under management. Franklin Resources Inc. [NYSE: BEN], a global investment management organization operating as Franklin Templeton Investments, recently purchased the company, which manages assets across a range of credit strategies, including private/opportunistic debt, structured credit, high yield, special situations, long-short liquid credit and commercial real estate debt.
