Aquiline Capital Partners LLC (“Aquiline”), a New York-based private equity firm investing in financial services, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to become the majority investor in Engs Commercial Finance Co. (“ECF”), a vendor-based commercial lender that provides lease and loan solutions to truck, trailer and other equipment dealers, manufacturers and operators.
“Establishing this relationship with Aquiline will position ECF to further capitalize on its strong position in the transportation space, as well as provide growth capital to strategically expand into adjacent commercial equipment finance markets,” said Craig S. Weinewuth, CEO and President of ECF. “Aquiline’s commercial finance experience makes them the ideal partner as they are aligned with our vision and will provide valuable insight as we grow our client base and product offerings throughout the U.S.”
“With the U.S. economy improving, the transportation industry is poised to meaningfully benefit from the continued GDP growth as the volume of goods shipped increases,” said Jeff Greenberg, Chief Executive of Aquiline. “With the growing demand for truck equipment financing, ECF is well positioned to continue to serve the growth in this specialized market and we look forward to working with Craig and his team.”
The transaction, the terms of which were not disclosed, is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the first quarter of 2015. Bank of Montreal acted as financial advisor and Latham & Watkins LLP as legal counsel to Aquiline, and Houlihan Lokey acted as financial advisor to ECF for this transaction.
Engs Commercial Finance is one of the oldest and most respected commercial finance companies in the U.S., having financed over $1.5 billion in equipment since 1952. Its industry-specific vendor finance programs are designed to help dealers and manufacturers sell more equipment, and promote a higher percentage of repeat customers. ECF’s people, systems, policies and procedures are designed specifically around the industries it serves, with the goal of delivering best in class products and service to customers.