When a private equity owned, natural food manufacturing company sought their first debt facility, they chose Republic Business Credit to feed their ambitious growth plans. Republic provided a flexible, covenant free working capital facility that will enable strategic raw material purchases to mirror customer demand. Republic partnered with a national investment banking firm that was hired by the client and their sponsor to obtain a line of credit. Despite many suitors, the client chose a ledgered receivables line instead of a traditional Asset Based Loan.
The company is heavily investing present cashflow into their future growth, its CFO said, “We almost chose a traditional ABL Loan, but their covenants and restrictive borrowing base did not position our company for future success.” He further stated, “Republic was transparent with their legal documents, availability and provided immediate access to the owners of Republic to help close the facility inside of three weeks.”
Republic provided a scalable solution that aligned with their growth plans.
The company manufacturers a natural whole grain with applications across the food supply chain and distributes the home grown products into the wholesale and grocery space. Some customers prefer their grains to complement their own product development in the natural food space. The company partners with emerging and established brands to deliver a private labeled product from one of their affiliated manufacturing facilities. The company adds value to the entire food supply chain as they create end to end contract manufacturing.
The private equity firm supported a few early acquisitions and provided the necessary startup capital. The PE firm wanted to utilize the co-founders technological application to address one of the largest markets, over $2+ trillion food industry according to the team at Plunkett Research. Republic continues to support food and natural food brands as we build our expertise in the industry.
Republic provided a $6.5 million Receivables Line of Credit facility with no covenants or cash flow requirements. Republic’s ongoing funding will be used for the purchase of raw materials, equipment and to invest in their distribution assets. The company is planning to increase their revenue by 300% in 2020 and see their first months of profitability.
“The natural food industry is exploding with new brands and it is one of the most important developments to improving our overall health.” says Stewart Chesters, CEO of Republic. “We support several entrepreneurs in the food and natural food industries. It is a nice bonus when they are well capitalized but it isn’t normally the case or required by us.” Republic designed its team and products to support smaller and medium-sized companies.