ATLAS SP Partners, the warehouse finance and securitized products business majority owned by Apollo funds, and BNP Paribas, a global bank of the European Union, entered a strategic financing and capital markets collaboration.
Under the terms of the collaboration, BNP Paribas will make a significant day-one financing commitment of $5 billion, which is expected to increase over time. The commitment supports investment-grade, asset-backed credit originated by Apollo and ATLAS, alongside a capital markets collaboration to support securitizations sourced by Apollo and ATLAS issuer clients.
“We believe this strategic collaboration, which includes one of the largest-ever bilateral financings for directly-originated credit assets, is a testament to the strength of ATLAS’ unique origination capabilities and differentiated model,” Jim Zelter, co-president of Apollo, said. “Working hand-in-hand with BNP Paribas, this transaction shows how Apollo and ATLAS continue to expand relationships with leading global financial institutions and builds on Apollo’s existing collaboration with BNP Paribas to provide inventory finance solutions through the Eliant platform.”
“BNP Paribas is an international banking organization offering exemplary client service as well as cutting-edge financing, hedging and investment solutions in the Americas and worldwide,” Olivier Osty, head of corporate and institutional banking global markets at BNP Paribas, said. “We are pleased to deepen our collaboration with Apollo and ATLAS through this strategic transaction and look forward to further building our business with them both.”
“As a fully-integrated and scaled origination platform, ATLAS is ideally positioned as an institutional borrower’s partner of choice for warehousing and other investment grade asset-backed solutions,” Carey Lathrop, interim CEO of ATLAS SP, said. “This exciting collaboration with BNP Paribas builds on our strong existing relationships with other financial institutions and should serve to accelerate the growth of ATLAS and its full suite of client capabilities.”
“Our global markets business is continually evolving to serve our clients, and today’s news is a testament to this strategy,” John Gallo, head of global markets, Americas and global head of institutional client group at BNP Paribas, said. “This collaboration leverages our leading securitization structuring and distribution capabilities to support ATLAS in financing the real economy, while also being complementary to the client franchise and growth objectives of both firms.”
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison served as legal counsel, and Redding Ridge Asset Management acted as structuring agent to Apollo and affiliated entities on the transaction. Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft served as legal counsel to BNP Paribas.
