Carmel, Indiana-based financial services provider Merchants Capital has enjoyed strong growth in its capital markets platform led by senior vice president Evan Gibson.
Since its inception in 2020, the group has executed over $3 billion in securitizations and has accumulated over $900 million in assets under management.
The platform focuses on providing liquidity and capital relief for parent company Merchants Bank of Indiana, to support growth in its direct bridge and construction lending. As a result of successfully executing on this strategy, the Capital Markets team has evolved into creating proprietary permanent debt solutions that supplement Merchants Capital’s balance sheet and agency lending product offerings.
Gibson started the Capital Markets group in March 2020, and the team has since grown to seven who work out of the company’s Carmel and New York offices. Notable hires included Vice Presidents Dean Ramsamooj and Darren King in 2021 and 2022, respectively.
On March 30, the Capital Markets team, alongside leading seniors housing and healthcare lender VIUM Capital and structuring agent and sole bookrunner ATLAS SP Partners, closed a private synthetic securitization of over $1.1 billion of first-lien floating-rate skilled nursing and seniors housing bridge loans. Merchants Capital will continue to service these loans. Merchants Bank of Indiana issued and sold $158 million aggregate principal balance of Senior Credit Linked Notes, representing approximately 14% of the reference pool. The resulting reduction in risk weighted assets for this pool of loans supports further growth and lending capacity at Merchants Capital and VIUM Capital. This synthetic securitization comes just six months after closing a securitization of $1.2 billion in multifamily bridge loans in September 2022.
“Having the opportunity to lead our growing Capital Markets group is an honor, and I am proud of the impact our team has had across the Merchants platform in just our third year of operation,” said Gibson. “Our role in creating innovative solutions directly contributes to the success of the Merchants lending platform and supports the firm’s status as an industry leader in financing both multifamily through Merchants Capital, and healthcare through its partnership with VIUM Capital. This integrated platform is unique in the industry and allows us to continue servicing our clients from coast to coast with an increasing array of solutions and capacity.”
In 2021, the Capital Markets group closed its first Freddie Mac Q-Series transaction, a $262 million deal that securitized 15 workforce housing loans for properties across the nation, supporting the preservation of critical housing infrastructure. In 2022, the group executed on its second and third Q-Series deals, a program that Merchants Capital expects to continue to leverage with Freddie Mac in the future. Both 2022 Q-Series transactions were designated by Freddie Mac Multifamily for their Social Bonds program, which has a framework validated through Sustainalytics’ second-party opinion. These transactions have helped define criteria for Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) qualifying investments in affordable multifamily.
