First Citizens Bank and Sixth Street, a global investment firm, launched Sixty-First Commercial Finance, a new platform managed by First Citizens Institutional Asset Management and designed to provide flexible capital equipment financing solutions to middle market companies.
A joint venture between Sixth Street’s asset-based finance platform and First Citizens Bank, Sixty-First Commercial Finance will leverage the capabilities and expertise of both institutions to provide mid- and large-ticket capital equipment financings ranging from $5 million to $100 million, with diverse coverage across equipment asset types and industries.
“First Citizens Bank is a top 20 U.S. bank and also among the five largest banks in equipment finance1,” Jim Hudak, president of First Citizens Commercial Finance, said. “This strategic initiative represents a significant step forward for First Citizens Bank’s capacity to serve capital equipment clients and to leverage our deep industry knowledge and long-standing expertise in this sector.”
“With the launch of Sixty-First Commercial Finance, we’re providing the equipment finance industry with market differentiating financing capabilities,” Kevin Ronan, head of capital equipment finance at First Citizens Bank, said. “Our clients now have access to even more attractive financing alternatives with greater flexibility and greater certainty of execution through the combined capabilities of First Citizens Bank and Sixth Street.”
“We are proud to be partnering with First Citizens Bank on this novel structure to support and augment their existing deep equipment finance and leasing capabilities,” Michael Dryden, partner and head of asset-based finance at Sixth Street, said. “This is a great example of how institutions like ours can work together to create new capital solutions that expand capacity for the bank’s clients and grow new financing activity.”
In conjunction with the launch, Bank of America is structuring and arranging a bilateral $300 million warehouse finance facility to fund the Sixty-First Commercial Finance joint venture.
With the formation of Sixty-First Commercial Finance, Ryan Berlage, who has been with First Citizens Bank since 2020, will serve as managing director and chief credit officer and portfolio manager of the joint venture, as well as an officer of First Citizens Institutional Asset Management. In this role, Berlage will lead all underwriting and portfolio related activities, drawing on his 20-plus years of experience in the equipment finance industry and his firsthand knowledge of building new leasing platforms for banks and non-banks.
Additionally, First Citizens Bank executives Ronan and chief underwriting officer Edward Moir have been appointed as officers of First Citizens Institutional Asset Management and will provide ongoing oversight to Sixty-First Commercial Finance. First Citizens Institutional Asset Management, an SEC registered investment advisor, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of First Citizens Bank.
