A collaboration between Wells Fargo & Co. and Centerbridge Partners focused on direct lending has successfully arranged $2.8 billion in transactions since its inception a year ago. The business development company, named Overland Advantage, has spearheaded six deals in partnership with Wells Fargo, including a $74 million second-lien credit facility for MaxiTransfers and a $215 million agreement for FFF Enterprises Inc. Additional financings have been secured for Continental Services, Capital Vacations, SGA Dental Partners, and TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp.
Wells Fargo is among a select group of banks that have partnered with direct lenders in the past year to capitalize on the $1.6 trillion private credit market. These collaborations have varied in structure, and market participants are keenly observing their performance. Overland is managed by an entity controlled by Centerbridge, with Wells Fargo holding a significant minority stake. The fund aims to raise at least $5 billion, including $2.5 billion in equity commitments, and focuses on providing senior secured loans to non-sponsor-backed middle-market companies in North America. It took approximately two years to launch.
David Marks, an executive vice president at Wells Fargo Commercial Banking, noted, “If you are a non-sponsor owned company in the middle of America, you don’t know private credit the same way you might as a financial sponsor on Park Avenue or Hudson Yards, so we are providing a solution that wasn’t readily available before.” Typically, Wells Fargo refers opportunities to Overland, while Centerbridge underwrites the financing, although referrals can flow in both directions. Some transactions involve hybrid financing, where Wells Fargo offers a revolver and Overland provides a term loan.
Gavin Baiera, CEO of Overland and senior managing director at Centerbridge, remarked, “Overland and Wells Fargo agented all six of our deals, which is unusual for a startup where you are typically buying pieces in other deals in order to deploy. There’s always things that you want to improve on, but things are very much working the way that we envisioned them to work.” He anticipates an increase in deal flow for the fund, which completed its first transaction in June, throughout the remainder of the year.
