In the Marketplace

Macquarie Group Limited has entered into an agreement to acquire Advantage Funding Management Co., Inc. (Advantage Funding) from Marubeni America Corporation. Under the agreement, Advantage Funding will become a fully owned subsidiary of Macquarie's Corporate and Asset Finance group (CAF). Advantage Funding provides transportation financing and leasing solutions servicing commercial and vehicle operators, dealers and manufacturers.

CIT Group Inc. of New York has named Rob Seltzer managing director of CIT Capital Equipment Finance . He will be responsible for leading the group's buy desk as well as indirect channel sales, including internal cross selling with additional CIT platforms. Seltzer will report directly to Eric Miller, group head and managing director of CIT Capital Equipment Finance.

Key Equipment Finance of Superior, CO, has hired Steve Kueppers as vice president, equipment finance officer. Based out of Minneapolis, Kueppers will help provide equipment finance solutions to a wide variety of industries in the Midwest region, specifically western Wisconsin. He previously served as a director at SunTrust Equipment Finance. In a separate announcement, the company has also named Kevin White as vice president, equipment finance officer. White will be based out of Richmond, VA, and will focus on providing equipment leasing and product solutions to new and existing clients in the Mid-Atlantic region. He formerly served as senior vice president of equipment leasing for GE Capital.

MB Financial Bank has rebranded its Cole Taylor Equipment Finance subsidiary as MB Equipment Finance. Along with MB Lease Banking , Celtic Commercial Finance and LaSalle Solutions , MB offers services for the equipment finance and leasing industry, including equipment leases and loans, lessor financing, lease banking, payment processing services and life-cycle asset management.

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Winston & Strawn LLP has launched a transportation-structured finance practice. Bill Bowers will serve as chair of this new group, which brings together more than 25 attorneys based in the firm's New York, Chicago, London and Washington, DC, offices. The group will focus on structured finance and securitization financings for the full range of transportation assets, including aircraft, aircraft engines, ships, railroad rolling stock, and containers; as well as the restructuring, transfer, and repackaging of such financings. They represent banks, underwriters, placement agents, issuers, lenders and liquidity providers in such financings, as well as a wide range of asset users ' U.S. and foreign airlines, operating lessors, shipping companies, railroads and trucking companies.

Vedder Price P.C. announced that Raviv Surpin has joined the firm's Los Angeles office as a shareholder on the Global Transportation Finance (GTF) team. Surpin works with operating lessors, borrowers, finance companies, manufacturers and investors in all manner of aircraft finance transactions. He previously served as vice president & corporate counsel at International Lease Finance Corporation/AerCap (ILFC/AerCap).

The Alta Group has announced that Paul W. Frechette will return to the consultancy as director of client relations and consulting. He will work with captive and vendor leasing companies and other finance businesses to build new markets, drive revenue growth and improve market positioning. Prior to his return, Frechette served as a business unit manager with Bank of the West Equipment Finance Division. In his previous work for Alta, he managed the consultancy's captive and vendor finance practice.

Macquarie Group Limited has entered into an agreement to acquire Advantage Funding Management Co., Inc. (Advantage Funding) from Marubeni America Corporation. Under the agreement, Advantage Funding will become a fully owned subsidiary of Macquarie's Corporate and Asset Finance group (CAF). Advantage Funding provides transportation financing and leasing solutions servicing commercial and vehicle operators, dealers and manufacturers.

CIT Group Inc. of New York has named Rob Seltzer managing director of CIT Capital Equipment Finance . He will be responsible for leading the group's buy desk as well as indirect channel sales, including internal cross selling with additional CIT platforms. Seltzer will report directly to Eric Miller, group head and managing director of CIT Capital Equipment Finance.

Key Equipment Finance of Superior, CO, has hired Steve Kueppers as vice president, equipment finance officer. Based out of Minneapolis, Kueppers will help provide equipment finance solutions to a wide variety of industries in the Midwest region, specifically western Wisconsin. He previously served as a director at SunTrust Equipment Finance. In a separate announcement, the company has also named Kevin White as vice president, equipment finance officer. White will be based out of Richmond, VA, and will focus on providing equipment leasing and product solutions to new and existing clients in the Mid-Atlantic region. He formerly served as senior vice president of equipment leasing for GE Capital.

MB Financial Bank has rebranded its Cole Taylor Equipment Finance subsidiary as MB Equipment Finance. Along with MB Lease Banking , Celtic Commercial Finance and LaSalle Solutions , MB offers services for the equipment finance and leasing industry, including equipment leases and loans, lessor financing, lease banking, payment processing services and life-cycle asset management.

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