Cambridge Savings Bank’s asset-based lending team provided a senior credit facility to Nashville, TN-based BFC Solutions, a provider of commercial HVAC and refrigeration filter replacement and related routine preventative maintenance services.
With a customer base of retailers, restaurants, grocers and convenience stores, BFC required a banking partner to help scale its business. Gemini Investors, a private investment firm based in Wellesley, MA, made the connection to Cambridge Saving Bank. BFC is jointly owned by Gemini Investors and Boston-based private equity firm AVALT Holdings.
BFC will leverage the lending package to repay existing debt and finance ongoing working capital needs. With a team of roughly 600 service technicians managing more than 440,000 service requests in 2022, BFC sought a solution that would allow it to improve operational efficiency and invest in its future plans.
“CSB’s asset-based lending team took a tailored approach and offered us a comprehensive financing package to help us meet our unique business challenges and needs,” Philip Whitaker, CEO at BFC Solutions, said. “Further, this capital provides us the flexibility to advance our growth objectives. We sought an experienced partner that was more than a lender and CSB checked those boxes.”
The liquidity unlocked by the credit facility will support BFC’s day-to-day operations as well as its infrastructure for preventative maintenance programs. Its main offering is a patented Pleatlink air filter. Once a customer is onboarded with Pleatlink, it has access to BFC’s ancillary services, including coil cleaning, refrigerated case cleaning and reach-in cooler cleaning.
“BFC is making a real difference by providing multi-location businesses across the country with healthier air quality, cleaner facilities and well-maintained equipment, all at lower maintenance costs,” John Bobbin, first vice president and senior asset-based lending officer at Cambridge Savings Bank, said. “Our ABL team aims to serve as an extension of each client’s team, forming a true partnership tailored to the unique needs of their business. To that end, we are eager to work alongside BFC as they continue to scale their business.”
