Home BancShares adds to marine loan portfolio in $238 million deal

by Talk Business & Politics staff ([email protected]) 747 views 

Home BancShares completed its purchase of the marine loan portfolio of Utah-based LendingClub Bank. Terms of the transaction totaled $238 million in acquired yacht loans.

The portfolio of loans will be housed within Home BancShares’ Centennial Shore Premier Finance (SPF) division, which will be responsible for servicing the acquired loan portfolio and originating new loan production.

SPF is a specialized marine lending division of Centennial Bank with a national platform for dealership floor plan and retail consumer marine loans. Upon completion of the acquisition, SPF will have total loans receivable of approximately $1.13 billion.

“The marine business has continued to be a strong segment for Centennial Bank,” said Home BancShares Chairman, CEO and President John Allison. “This opportunity allows us to acquire a quality portfolio that complements our marine finance division.”

Home BancShares beefed up its marine loan portfolio in February 2020 when it acquired LH-Finance, the marine lending division of Bridgeport, Connecticut based People’s United Bank. At that time, Home BancShares acquired $405 million in marine loans.

“I am particularly pleased with the acquisition of this consumer marine portfolio,” said SPF President John Marshall. “Our due diligence has revealed that the credit metrics for each loan in this pool will further enhance the Shore Premier Finance portfolio and should offer very similar asset performance. The growth helps to scale our business, increase our bottom-line contribution, and smooth out pandemic production swings.”