Specialty finance company Finantra Capital, Inc. is gearing up for its subsidiary's initial ABS term offering, likely to come to market at the end of June, said sources close to the transaction.
Finantra recently signed a securitization placement contract with Chicago-based William Blair & Company for the former company's consumer finance subsidiary Travelers Investment Corp.
Travelers Investment, a non-prime consumer-loan company, has programs with hundreds of different originators including medical groups and trade schools.
"We've hired William Blair & Company to be our placement agent for Travelers Investment's first securitization of its consumer loan portfolio," said Vern Landeck, CFO at Finantra.
Another source said that the securitization, which is expected to be near the $50 million mark, will be backed by "funky" consumer receivables including trade school, lasic and cosmetic surgery and vacation club loans.
Under the contract signed between Finantra and William Blair, which is worth $100 million over the initial 18-month term, William Blair will serve as private placement agent for one or more of Travelers' ABS offerings.
In a related development, Finantra Capital recently revised its letter of intent to acquire Prime Capital, Inc., which is a specialty finance company specializing in the communications and healthcare industries.
Landeck, who was formerly chief financial officer at Prime Capital before he moved to Finantra, said that upon completion of the acquisition, Prime Capital's leasing portfolio will likely be incorporated into Finantra's leasing business.
"Finantra has other leasing operations and Prime Capital will be rolled into those," said Landeck.
He added that Finantra anticipates doing a secuirization of its leasing product in the fourth quarter of 2000.
