TimePayment, a fintech company and market leader in sales financing for specialty equipment sellers, has announced the acquisition of Wheaten Financial Inc., an innovative and rapidly growing equipment finance company primarily focused on commercial vehicles and titled equipment.

The transaction has closed and Wheaten will now operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of TimePayment. Aimee McChurch, founder of Wheaten, will continue to lead the business out of its Irvine, CA, headquarters.

“Wheaten is a company we’ve admired for a while now and we’re excited to be adding this great business to our portfolio of niche-focused, strategic business units,” said Jay Haverty, TimePayment’s President and Chief Executive Officer. “Expanding our position in the specialty vehicle and titled equipment segments has been a priority. And Wheaten checks all the boxes. They bring outstanding leadership, a team with deep market knowledge and long-standing industry relationships, both at the dealer level and with the end users/operators they finance. Their track record speaks for itself.”

Hank Reeves, Chairman of TimePayment, added, “The Wheaten acquisition is consistent with our strategy to add new asset classes to the mix of specialty markets that TimePayment serves. Wheaten’s market reach and growth trajectory in their verticals has been impressive. Our entire Board is excited and optimistic about the opportunities to further scale the business with technology and greater access to capital.”

Founded in 2007, Wheaten has steadily grown its market share since inception and more than tripled new loan originations over the past few years. As its founder, McChurch sees the acquisition as a transformative opportunity for the company she built. “TimePayment truly presented everything that we needed to take us to the next level. The technology platform that they’re able to provide us with is second to none. We’ve always been a customer-first enterprise and TimePayment shares this passion. We need to keep growing to stay relevant to this industry, and we’ll now be able to reach far more customers and do it faster than ever.”

Haverty agreed, “It’s a great combination. Working with Aimee and her team, we’ll be able to serve more small-business owners than ever. We are simply a much more valuable company with Wheaten as part of our enterprise.”

TimePayment is a Boston-based fintech company owned by affiliates of Fortress Investment Group.