Encina Private Credit Closes $500MM in Incremental Capital Commitments, Hires Hensinger as President, CCO

July 28, 2022, 08:00 AM

Encina Private Credit expanded its capital base with $500 million in incremental capital commitments. This capital will enable the platform to scale its first-out, enterprise value loan product in partnership with its growing roster of direct lending partners. In connection with the significant expansion of its capital base, Encina Private Credit also hired Michael Hensinger as its president and chief commercial officer.

Hensinger will be based out of the company’s headquarters in Norwalk, CT, and will report to John Ryan, CEO and chief risk officer of Encina Private Credit. Hensinger will be responsible for leading Encina Private Credit’s business development, syndications and product development efforts.

Hensinger is a more than 25-year veteran of the commercial finance industry, most recently serving as a senior commercial executive at Synchrony. Before that, he spent 14 years at GE Capital in various commercial roles of increasing responsibility across cash flow lending, asset-based lending and equipment finance. Hensinger also led a cross-border financing business for GE Capital that provided customized financing solutions to multinational corporations with team members based in North America, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Hensinger is joining a team comprised primarily of other former GE Capital veterans, including Ryan, Bob Kennedy, Eric James, Janani Sharma, Julie Meade, Sandy Hom, Judy Langan, David Mattei, Tom Burns, Lisa Huber, Brian Fulton and Matt Bernarducci.

The Encina Private Credit team also receives support from a team of board members and senior advisors who also count themselves as GE Capital alumni, including Rob McMahon, Paul Bossidy, William Brasser and Kevin Burke.

“We are extremely grateful to our capital providers for their confidence in our team and our ability to execute on our ambitious business plan,” Ryan said. “I’m also thrilled to welcome a highly talented and proven executive like Mike Hensinger to our team, and I’m confident he will make significant contributions to our platform in the months and years ahead.”

“I’m excited to rejoin many of my former GE Capital colleagues to help build a unique private credit platform that leverages my skill set and experience,” Hensinger said. “I’m looking forward to driving significant growth by expanding EPC’s existing direct lending relationships and developing relationships with new direct lending partners.”

Encina Private Credit provides the first-out portion of privately negotiated senior credit facilities, which may consist of a combination of a revolver, a term loan and a delayed draw term loan, with a target hold position in the $10 million to $50 million size range. By structuring its commitments as “first out” via an intercreditor arrangement known as an “agreement among lenders,” Encina Private Credit can price its portion of a given credit facility at a compressed yield. This enables the company’s direct lending partners to offer prospective borrowers (both private equity sponsored and non-sponsored companies) a competitively-priced unitranche solution.

Since launching in late 2018, Encina Private Credit has partnered with 15 direct lenders on transactions across a range of industries. The company utilizes an EBITDA-based underwriting approach for traditional cash flow deals and a recurring revenue-based underwriting approach for software-as-a-service-based software companies.