ABF Journal
Q4 2022 | Vol. 20, No. 4
2022 Deals of the Year
Pages 29 – 38
Year in and year out, the topic we cover most (and that our readers show the most interest in) is deal-making. We report on hundreds of deals every year and for each one, there is always a story. For ABF Journal’s first ever Deals of the Year listing, we scoured the extensive collection of deals we’ve covered this year to pick out some of the most unique and interesting transactions of 2022. Ultimately, this listing is meant to tell the stories behind those deals while conveying the scope of this year’s deal-making environment. These deals were chosen based on a mix of reader popularity, our editorial team’s insights and our advisory board’s recommendations. Deals of all types were considered, including asset-based loans, factoring facilities, venture debt transactions and more, with deals announced and/or closed between Jan 1. and Oct. 31 eligible for inclusion. Without further ado, enjoy this year’s list.
Page 37
SLR Digital Finance | DeepIntent
$40MM ABL Deal
Prior to rebranding earlier this year, SLR Digital Finance, a subsidiary of SLR Business Credit, operated as Fast Pay Partners. Under that banner, one of the company’s products was a SMB financing solution called Fast Lane, which provided quick access to facilities of up to $100,000 with limited due diligence. One of the company’s clients under the program was Deeplntent, a pioneer in advertising technology for healthcare marketers. However, as was the case with many similar borrowers, Deeplntent eventually outgrew the facility and refinanced out.
The two businesses found their way back to each other during this past year after Jeff Austin, senior vice president of business development at SLR Digital Finance, came across Deeplntent’s name while reading an article about growing advertising technology businesses. Deeplntent certainly has been on a growth trajectory of late, as it now has more than 250 dedicated employees across three continents.
Intrigued by its growth and with new products at his disposal thanks to Fast Pay’s acquisition by SLR Business Credit, Austin reached out to Deeplntent, and fewer than three months later, SLR Digital Finance provided the company with a $30 million revolving facility with a sublimit for unbilled receivables, which eventually increased to $40 million to grow with the borrower.
For SLR Digital Finance, although the deal served as a milestone in its expansion into the larger ABL world, it was, as Randy Mitzman, senior vice president and managing director of the company, says, “right down the center of the fairway for us.”
“Our team did the work to really understand their business, which allowed us to structure a facility that fit their needs precisely and gave them high confidence that we would complete the transaction on their expedited timetable; Mitzman says.
Deeplntent plans to use the proceeds of the facility to provide its business with additional working capital as it continues to scale its platform and onboard new advertisers and agencies.
“Deeplntent has been leading the healthcare advertising industry with data-driven solutions and bespoke technology:’ Chris Paquette, founder and CEO of Deeplntent, says. “From day one, our mission has been to improve patient outcomes through the artful use of advertising, data science and real -world clinical data. This funding will enable us to continue to lead pharma into the future by innovating and marketing to the future that is, not the past that was.”
Having a familiarity with the digital media marketing landscape, not to mention with Deeplntent itself, made closing the deal a simpler task for SLR Digital Finance than it may have been for another lender. SLR Digital Finance also included some even more unique elements to the deal, including specific features that increased availability and concentration limits.
SLR Digital Finance is enjoying benefits beyond financial incentives from this transaction, with Mitzman calling it a “game changer” from the sales perspective, while Kate Dorrlacombe, senior vice president of underwriting at SLR Digital Finance, says it allowed the company to further sharpen the skills and systems its uses for structuring and underwriting ABL deals and reporting.
To view the list in its entirety, please visit
www.abfjournal.com/issues/2022-deals-of-the-year/