Wintrust Receivables Finance closed a $4.75 million accounts receivable line of credit for a Southeast-based manufacturer and distributor of natural pet food. In addition to pet food, the company also has a portfolio of pet and wellness products for dogs and cats, including treats, dental chews and supplements. The company sells its products domestically through major retailers including Amazon, Chewy, Petco and PetSmart.
The company had experienced declining financial performance during the previous fiscal year due to a combination of weak internal expense controls and poor management. This led to the company violating multiple financial covenants with its incumbent lender. Earlier in the year, the management team was replaced with a new group that immediately started to reduce expenses, improve internal controls and focus on growing sales in the company’s most profitable product categories. The new management team quickly realized that the company would need to access additional liquidity while replacing its incumbent lender to fully execute its turnaround plan.
Wintrust Receivables Finance provided the $4.75 million accounts receivable line of credit to refinance the company’s existing bank debt. The line provided an aggressive advance rate and no financial covenant structure to give management the access to liquidity and flexibility needed to execute the plan.
“We were immediately impressed with the new management team’s ability to highlight the problems of the past and give us concrete steps that had been taken to improve future financial performance,” Jason LeuVoy, HEAD OF ORIGINATIONS at Wintrust Business Credit, said.
“Our WRF team has successfully financed a number of turnarounds across a broad range of industries and we have every reason to believe this will be another in a long line of success stories,” John Marrinson, executive vice president of Wintrust Receivables Finance, said.
