BSB
Is Not Closed????
Varilease Is---- Closed Down by Unicapital this morning
Reactions to Unicapital/Sierra Cities Reports
Imperial/Jump Cut Announcement
CIT Named Nation's Number #1 SBA Lender
The
List Up-Dated
Unicapital
is closing down its various divisions, it appears, and it was Varilease today.
No word on UCP, Portland, Oregon at this time.
Correction:
Kit,
Don Meyerson is the founder of BSB, not Bruce Zwellinger. Just thought you would
want to know.
Dee
DiBenedictis
SunStar Equipment Leasing, Inc.
The Bright Choice for All
Your Leasing Needs
407-668-5533
(
Sorry, I originally had Don Meyerson telling me this, and I did speak with him,
but the message about the new company came from Bruce Zwillinger. I wanted to
give Bruce a plug as he is a straight shooter in my book, as well as Don Meyerson,
who has a covenant not to compete for two years, I believe, as long as Unicapital
is in business...editor
Don
Meyerson told me late this afternoon that BSB " ...is technically not closed.
I am trying to facilitate leases we have, complete them, take care of them, and
protect them. I am still negotiating to buy BSB and I collect the mail, federal
express, and handle the voice mail the best I can."
All
the Unicapital divisions have closed doors, but are technically "still in business,
just not accepting any new
business," he believes. He knows he is still working.
Sierra
Cities Report II Reader Comments
I
was just reading your latest newsletter about the shenanigans at the Republic
Group. I read the replies doubting the accuracy of what the Republic group was
like. As a former Republic Group employee, all I have to say is that what Mr.
Lester said only scratches the surface of what went on there. It was even more
crazy than what you saw in the movie Boileroom. I could go on for hours about
the things I saw there.
If you choose to post this, Kit, please withhold my name.
I
really like what you're doing for our industry. My hat is off to you for the time
you take and the effort you expend. Please feel free to let me know if I can help
you in any way. This is not an idle offer.
Steve
SCHRIEST@aol.com
Good job on the edition about the Uni-Capital Vertical Net stories. I really enjoyed
it, and I appreciate it. I really enjoyed some of the quotes particularly about
Depping. They made me chuckle out loud. " Depping has not old friends just new
friends and wanna-bees." Hope things are going well for you and if I can help
you with anything let me know. You're doing a good job for the industry.
Thanks
again.
Paul Tones
Bay View Leasing Peninsula
PTorres@BVCL.com
An eLease President re: Sierra Cities/VerticalNet:
Couple
things:
1. Thanks for an informative newsletter. I'm learning quite a bit.
2.
You can find out more about Vertical Net via a cover story on them run by www.line56.com
maybe 6 months ago (it was in the print version; not sure if it was also on their
website).
The gist of the story then was: $100m from Microsoft, but little
to no transaction revenue from their 57 marketplaces.
At ( an internet company
) before I started *****, I was learning about the e-marketplace. We learned,
quickly, that achieving liquidty i.e. a critical mass of buyer and seller customers,
was difficult.
So as for First Sierra, if there's no liquidity in the VerticalNet
marketplace, there's nothing to finance. Hopefully, the MSN investment will be
spent wisely, to help them get those customers. As long as they listen to the
customers, and build functionality that meets their needs, they have a chance.
name
with held by request
In addition to Varilease, it was brought to our attention:
Franchise Mortagage
Acceptance Corporation (FMAC) 11/1999 purchased by Bay View Commercial Corporation
(Bay View Bank) 9/2000 discontinuing all franchise loan and lease production.
54 Leasing Companies Major Changes
Affinity
Leasing, Washington ( 12/2000 to close )
American Business Leasing ( gone
)
Balboa Capital ( Founder Byrne "...office available any time he wants to
use it" ).
The Bancorp Group, Inc. (Southfield, MI) ( no longer in business
)
Bankvest (bankrupt)
Bombadier ( reported having problems, not confirmed
)
BSB Leasing (11/2000 closed to accepting new buisness )
Charter Financial
( purchased by Wells Fargo 9/5/2000 )
Colonial Pacific (11/98) purchased by
GE Capital 5/2000 no more re-brokered applications, except from one or
two sources, such as Steve Dunham's Leasing Associates )
Commerce Security
( 9/99 closed to leasing broker program )(11/99 last fundings)
Comstock Leasing
( 3/2000 Unicapital then Linc and discontinued operation this date )
Copelco
( 4/2000 sold to Citibank/10/2000 stock down rated/10/2000 ceases broker business,
many complaints in manner turning off faucet )
Creative
Capital" of Bloomfield Hills, MI. ( shut-down 3/2000 )
Dana ( sold off, active
as captive )
DVI Capital ( out of broker )
El Camino Leasing, Woodland
Hills, Caifornia (10/2000 No longer taking broker business )
eLease ( June/July/2000
senior management changes )
FMA Finance ( reportedly closed to brokers )
Fidelity ( 4/2000 acquired by EAB, a wholly owned subsidiary of ABN AMRO Bank
N.V., headquartered in the Netherlands, raising funds )
Finova ( out of market
place )( 10/11/2000 Dow Jones headlines "Finova Stock Falls As Buyout Hopes Wane
10/25/2000 Dow Jones notes stock falling and problems at Finova 11/3 Announces
they will discontinue business, sell units ))
First
State Bancorp, Albuquerque, N.M ( 3/2000 sold leasing division-$64 million---)
Franklin Leasing, Des Moines, Iowa--owned by Liberty Bank-- (2/2000)-no longer
writing leases ( limited by regulations and leases are
for sale ).
Franchise Mortagage Acceptance Corporation (FMAC) 11/1999 purchased
by Bay View Commercial Corporation (Bay View Bank) 9/2000 discontinuing all franchise
loan and lease production. Golden Gate Funding ( 2/99 purchased by Westover Financial
)
Heller Financial's Commercial Services Unit ( 10/99 purchased by CIT )
Imperial
Credit Industries (ICII) ( sold portfolio )
Japan Leasing Credit claims (
JLC --6/99 purchased by Orix )
Lease Acceptance Corp---( ceases broker business
7/26/2000 )
Leasing Solutions ( bankrupt )
Liberty Leasing ( closed, California
company )
Linc Capital ( out of vendor and broker business, Nasdaq halts stock
sales, $13.4 loss last quarter,10/2000 assets for sale
)
Lyon Credit Corporaton ( 9/99 purchased by Hudson United Bancorp )
Manifest
Group--( 9/1/2000 purchased by US Bancorp Leasing and Financial, "...a win for
all the parties involved," Brian Bjella.
Matsco Financial
( purchased by Greater Bay Bank )
Merit Leasing ( gone )
Metwest Leasing,
Spokane Wa. ( 9/2000 advising brokers that they have run out of funds so they
are unable to fund a transaction we have there for funding.
11/2000 Metwest Leasing Spokane, WA. is pulling the plug,
confirmed by five sources. )
Metrolease--reports closing operation,John Blazek
at Evergreen Leasing, Hathcock losing assets, will not confirm
nor deny; many serious rumors of serious fraud floating around the marketplace,
including debt to Textron Financial.)
NationsCredit,
Business Leasing Group (1/29/99 sold to Textron**) *"The Business Leasing Group
of Nations Credit was sold to Textron and we still do broker business," Jim Merrilees,
very well respected individual in the leasing industry..
NIA National Leasing ( 3/2000 purchased by Lakeland Bancorp )
New England
Capital ( sold to Network Capital Alliance a division of Sovereign Bank. Sovereign
did hire two people who will run a sales office in CT,
doing basically the same deals with the same people as before. Little will change
in that aspect.
Newcourt ( sold off )
Onset Capital ( Irwin buys 87% equity
)
Orix 10/2000 "long-term Outlook has been revised from Stable to Negative"
Credit Allianchat it has changed its name to ORIX Financial
Services, 9/2000 Japanese Bank President Committs Suicide (Orix is a 14.7% shareholder
in bank having problems ), ( 8/2000 closes small ticket vendor division in Portland,
Oregon, "Business as usual (in New Jersey and with brokers),"
says Steve Geller 11/8 New President at Orrix appointed
)
Phoenix ( both divisions )
Republic Leasing, South Carolina 9/27/2000
( "The expected result will be a sale of Republic Leasing"-- Dwight
Galloway )
Rockford ( sold to American Express )
Scripp Financial ( 6/29/2000
( purchased by US Bancorp )
SDI ( closed to broker programs )
SFC Capital
( 9/15/2000 purchased by Trinity Capital )
SierraCities (11/2000 acquired
by Vertical Net Credit )
T&W, Washington ( bankrupt, lost their listing )
Transamerica ( for sale, but no buyers, so taken off marketplace, no longer
for sale )
Unicapital ( $11.4 million first quarter loss chairman,CEO,CFO
resign, 38 employees cutback, BofA extends credit to November
20, as Unicapital closes down divisions, not accepting new business, winding down).
Varilease ( 11/2000 closed down )
USA Capital Leasing ( gone-bk )
any
corrections, additions, comments will be appreciated. We are presently working
on dividing the list into last twelve months and prior.
as a point of information to all readers---I never quote anyone from any e-mail
message without direct permission. #One, it verifies you are the one who sent
the message..#.Two, often people will allow me to quote them, but to with hold
their name, which I will do, depending on the circumstances.
editor
CIT Named Nation's Number One SBA Lender
CIT Small Business Lending, a unit of The CIT Group, has been named the nation's
top lender to small businesses for the U.S. Small Business Administration's (SBA)
fiscal year ended September 30, 2000. The SBA credited CIT with Fiscal 2000 loan
volume of $468.9 million lent to 1,012 businesses located throughout the country.
"CIT has always wanted a strong foothold in this strategic niche," said Albert
R. Gamper, Jr., CIT's chairman, president and CEO. "Our 1999 acquisition of Newcourt
Credit Group provided that opportunity, and we are particularly pleased and proud
to be recognized as the leading lender in this industry."
"Our goal all along
has been to become the nation's provider of choice in the small business lending
arena," said John Canning, president of CIT Small Business Lending. "It is truly
an outstanding achievement to grow our SBA lending business from a start-up in
1993 to become the top lender in such a short period of time. By originating over
1,000 small business loans this past fiscal year we are helping entrepreneurs
across the nation realize their dreams of starting, owning and growing their businesses."
CIT Small Business Lending offers SBA loans for business acquisitions and
succession financing, commercial real estate financing, franchise financing, equipment
financing, construction loans and working capital. Designated a "Preferred Lender"
by the SBA, CIT's average loan size in 2000 grew $40,000 over the previous year
to $463,358. CIT's Preferred Lender status in more than 66 market areas across
the country allows the Company to provide quicker credit decisions and loan closings.
----NEXT WEEK-----
How
the future of the web is affecting business strategy of today.
Where should
we go?
Which products to watch out?
How all this would affect the leasing
industry?
special
report for the Leasing Industry by Thu Drouet, Leasing News Reporter
Imperial Bank Provides $1.5 Million Leasing Facility for JumpCut, Inc.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 9, 2000--Imperial Bank, the principal subsidiary
of Imperial Bancorp (NYSE:IMP), today announced that its New York Emerging Growth
Division office has provided a $1.5 million leasing facility to JumpCut, Inc.,
the leading convergent media architect that provides cus tomized interactive media
solutions for entertainment/media, corporate, non-profit, and government clients.
"Imperial Bank is pleased to provide financial support to JumpCut, a dynamic company
that navigates the world of convergent media and helps its blue chip clients manage
the development, design, production and marketing of interactive media projects,"
said William Sweeney, senior vice president of the Emerging Growth Division's
New York office.
"We
are excited about initiating this new relationship and strengthening our market
position in New York." JumpCut aims to deliver on the promise of interactive media
through its three business units: JumpCut Professional Services, ImageDirect Digital
Imaging and Sponsored Programming. Its services include production, creative and
strategy consulting; digital photography, video and immersive imaging; a nd production,
promotion and distribution of content on behalf of underwriting sponsor companies.
JumpCut is backed by investors including Atlas Venture, a premier Boston-based
venture firm.
"Our
strategic relationships with quality organizations like Imperial Bank and Atlas
Venture provide us with the added value needed to provide our clients with a complete
range of convergent media services in both traditional and interactive media platforms,
" said Steve Theobald, JumpCut's vice president of finance. "This credit facility
from Imperial Bank provides us with the financial backing to secure equipment
and technology that will foster our growth and ensure our ability to remain back-end
and tool agnostic, while remaining on the cutting edge."
About JumpCut, Inc.
Founded
in 1996 by pioneers in the digital entertainment industry, JumpCut, Inc. is a
leading provider of convergent media solutions for entertainment, corporate, non-profit
and institutional clients. Based in New York City with offices and studios in
Los Angeles and operations in London, JumpCut, Inc. merged with ImageDirect, a
premier digital imaging and syndication company in April 2000.
Having
expanded its focus in October 2000, the company is comprised of three synergistic
lines of business: JumpCut Professional Services, ImageDirect Digital Imaging
and Sponsored Programming. Through these businesses, JumpCut offers clients a
full range of convergent media solutions that include multimedia production and
development, live event programming, broadcasting and syndication, on-site engineering,
digital photography and immersive imaging. JumpCut, Inc. is currently a privately
held company, with initial financing through international VC firm Atlas Venture.
For more information visit www.jumpcut.com.
About
Atlas Venture
Atlas
Venture is the leading international, early-stage venture capital firm investing
in Internet, communications and life sciences. With offices in Amsterdam, Boston,
London, Menlo Park, Munich, Paris, and Seattle, Atlas Venture's investments are
split evenly between the United States and Europe. Founded in 1980, Atlas Venture
has organized five international funds, and currently manages $1.6 billion in
committed capital. The Atlas Venture investment team is comprised of seasoned
operating executives and career venture capitalists, who have been deeply involved
in the formation and development of over 250 companies worldwide. Recent Atlas
Venture portfolio company IPO's include Actelion (SWX:ATLN), deCODE genetics (NasdaqNM:DCGN
and Easdaq), Exelixis (Nasdaq:EXEL), Modex Therapeutiques SA (SWX:MDXN), Orchestream
Ltd (LSE:OCH), SpeechWorks International (Nasdaq:SPWX), and Variagenics (Nasdaq:VGNX).
Recent acquisitions of Atlas portfolio companies include Cerulean Technology (Aether),
eGroups (Yahoo), OnDisplay (Vignette), Trading Dynamics (Ariba), Omnia Communications
(Ciena), RightPoint Software (E.piphany), and T.sqware (GlobeSpan). For further
information on Atlas Venture, please call Karen Warner at (617) 859-9290 or Davia
B. Temin of Temin and Company at (212) 588-8788. On the web, Atlas Venture can
be visited at www.atlasventure.com.
About
Imperial Bank's Emerging Growth Division
With $7 billion in assets, Imperial Bank (www.imperialbank.com) is fueling the
growth of the new economy. Imperial, founded in 1963, has been a technology banking
leader for nearly a decade and offers a wide range of financial services tailored
to corporate customers, entrepreneurs and professionals. Imperial's Emerging Growth
Division provides credit and financial services and products to young, growing
professionally backed technology companies in the computer products, Internet
services, telecommunications, life sciences and e-commerce industries. Within
the Emerging Growth Division is Venture Capital Services, which is dedicated to
providing venture capitalists a full range of banking services. From offices located
in Phoenix, Ariz.; Irvine, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Palo Alto and San Diego,
Calif.; Denver, Colo.; Boston, Mass.; Austin and Dallas, Texas; New York, N.Y.;
Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; Reston, Va. and Kirkland, Wash., Imperial's senior level
venture banking team serves all major technology centers nationwide.
CONTACT:
Pacifico, Inc.
(Imperial Bank Emerging Growth Division)
Adrienne
Moch,
408/293-8600 x319
amoch@pacifico.com
or
Connors
Communications
(for JumpCut, Inc.)
Fiona McClelland,
212/807-7500
fiona@connors.com
KEYWORD: NEW YORK
