PNC Financial Divests Franchise Finance Business To MidCap

The PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE:PNC) has completed the sale of its franchise finance loan portfolio to MidCap Financial Services. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

MidCap Financial is a middle market-focused, specialty finance firm that provides senior debt solutions to businesses across all industries. The firm is managed by Apollo Capital Management, L.P. — a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management (NYSE:APO) .

The divested business relates to the previously acquired platform from ECN Capital, which made PNC Financial a leading provider of senior debt financing to the U.S. franchise industry.

As a result of this deal, six members from the divested business joined MidCap Financial, including Bernard Lajeunesse — the former senior vice president and general manager of PNC Franchise Finance — who will be leading the new initiative.

Steve Curwin, CEO of MidCap Financial Services, said, "This new endeavor further establishes our leading position in the middle market lending space. Bernie and his team have a long, successful track record, and I am confident they will continue that legacy at MidCap."

Previously in May 2019, PNC Financial had agreed to divest certain components of PNC Capital Advisors LLC's investment-management business for about $52 million to Federated Investors (NYSE:FII) . Under the agreement, liquidity, equity and fixed-income mutual funds of PNC Financial will be reorganized into respective Federated mutual funds.

Though PNC Financial remains committed toward developing its business through strategic initiatives, with growing business and investment in technology its expense base is expected to keep rising. This poses a major concern.

Shares of PNC Financial have gained 16.1% year to date, outperforming 15.1% growth of the industry it belongs to.

Currently, the stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

A stock in the financial space worth considering is CURO Group Holdings Corp. (NYSE:CURO) . The company’s Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised slightly upward in the past 30 days. Also, share price has risen almost 23% over the past six months. The stock currently carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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