Clark Street Capital, a loan sale advisory firm in Chicago, said it launched a new platform that enables community banks and other lenders to sell small loans in as little as two weeks.
Often, banks look to offload noncore loans and make other changes before the end of a given quarter or year. The process of seeking out bidders for asset sales, however, often takes several weeks or longer and many deals do not happen within target time frames, said Jon Winick, CEO of Clark Street Capital. Or lenders proceed with sales but deal only with direct buyers and do not get the potential financial benefit of multiple bids.
"We saw a need in the marketplace for a quick and efficient process that provides competitive bids within a week and closing as soon as a week later," Winick said. "Banks often find out late in a quarter that they have some room in the budget to move some assets, and they often leave money on the table by selling to a direct buyer without a competitive process."
Clark Street Capital's Accelerated Bank Asset Network would pair loan sellers with its established network of buyers. It is designed for single assets or portfolios under $5 million. In short, Winick said, the hastened process was created for small, simple deals.
Winick said that, while such short-term deals are not unheard of, the Accelerated BAN is the first of its kind in the loan sale advisory industry dedicated to a quick process.
Clark Street Capital recently completed its first deal with the new platform. It marketed a $2 million multifamily loan. Within a week, Winick said, the firm received interest from more than a dozen parties and half of them submitted bids.
"Despite a marketing process around the holidays, in just two weeks the loan sale was under contract with a 10% deposit," Winick said.
