Fast A/R Funding, a specialty finance company, announced that it has acquired Continental Business Credit, a 25 year-old privately held commercial finance company providing factoring and asset based lending to manufacturers, importers, and distributors. The acquisition was financed by Wells Fargo Capital Finance.

Continental will continue operations under its current name as a business unit of Fast A/R Funding and the two companies will cross service more than 150 clients with flexible lending structures and factoring services.

Continental will be the beneficiary of a significantly stronger capital base, enhanced back office services and technological advancements provided by Fast A/R Funding. Fast A/R Funding has invested considerable amounts and spent several years developing and enhancing its proprietary technology. This platform provides its clients substantial operating benefits including ease of use, expedited approvals, automated notifications, full transaction-level transparency, and 24/7 availability.

“We saw a unique opportunity to acquire a strong local brand in the traditional factoring space here in Southern California. By utilizing our significant capital reserves, technology platform, and financing expertise, we know both Fast A/R Funding and Continental are poised for substantial growth in the years to come,” said Jonah Schnel, executive chairman, Fast A/R Funding. “We will continue to build Continental to the benefit of their current and future clients. We anticipate substantial growth in 2015 and beyond”

“This acquisition is a chance for us to expand our reach into new market areas, including apparel, and other consumer product markets while realizing the benefit of a network of clients that have counted on Continental Business Credit for nearly three decades,” said Matt Begley, CEO, Fast A/R Funding. “Our technology base and streamlined processing will allow their clients to more quickly access funding while still dealing with familiar Continental personnel. Going forward, our combined portfolio size will also allow us to complete larger loans to existing and new clients.”