BancAssets announced it closed a $100 million loan across a network of 23 community financial institutions to meet part of U-Haul’s corporate debt needs.

BancAssets partnered with MidFirst Bank, which served as the lead bank and agent. The deal, which closed October 8, 2013, represents a new channel for community financial institutions to participate in large and middle-market corporate financing deals, a market normally dominated by the world’s biggest banks.

“We’re successfully bringing Main Street to Wall Street, offering community institutions opportunities they may not typically have access to on their own,” said David W. Hill, CEO of BancAssets and veteran banking and corporate finance executive. “What’s more, loan opportunities like these enable our partner institutions to boost loan growth which is increasingly important to earnings.”

Don Shafer, chairman at BancVue and BancAssets, said, “Our country’s economy has roared for more than a century, and one big reason is the fact we have a network across this country of more than 14,000 community financial institutions, unlike any other financial system on the planet. People in towns of every size in every state across our nation have access to capital from local institutions that are willing to make loans to businesses of every kind, which is precisely why Fortune 1000 companies should follow U-Haul’s lead and support these institutions.”

Tieman H. “Skipper” Dippel, chairman of Brenham National Bank, one of the community banks that took part in the deal, said, “What impressed us with the U-Haul opportunity was not just the strength of the credit, but also how BancAssets designed the process for the current needs of community institutions.”

“U-Haul has long supported the cities and communities that support them and securing funding through community financial institutions is another way to continue that 68-year tradition,” said U-Haul Treasurer Gary Horton. “This transaction allowed us the opportunity to partner with new lenders that we may not have been exposed to previously, thus helping to contribute to the revenue that community financial institutions need to serve their communities.”