Crestmark Expands its Factoring Presence and its Commitment to Helping Small Businesses

TROY, Mich., Nov. 3, 2010 /PRNewswire/ -- Crestmark, a Michigan FDIC-regulated bank, announces the acquisition of the primary assets of Westgate Financial Corp., a factoring and purchase order finance company headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey. The new company has been named Crestmark Westgate, LLC, and will report through the Crestmark West Palm Beach regional office.

"Crestmark has been seeking to expand its traditional factoring program, and the long-standing relationship between our two management teams made this a natural fit. We believe the combination puts Crestmark among the top ten of traditional factoring volume in the United States," stated Jim Rothman, Eastern Region Group President.

"This is an excellent opportunity for our continued growth. We couldn't be happier. Crestmark understands our business well, and brings to the table a wealth of experience in factoring and business-to-business working capital financing. It is this understanding and financial strength, combined with Westgate's strong relationships and years of experience in the traditional factoring marketplace that makes this partnership a win-win. This is a great move for our company, for our clients and the industries that we serve," stated Jack McLaughlin, Senior Vice President and a Westgate principal. "We look forward to working with Crestmark in a unified effort to provide the highest level of service to our clients." McLaughlin will head the Crestmark Westgate office.

"Westgate Financial is a well-respected company and highly experienced in providing traditional factoring services to their marketplace. This acquisition provides significant synergy with Crestmark's other factoring and asset-based products. The Northeast market is one that I've been active with for many years," said Barry J. Essig, Vice Chairman of Crestmark Bank.

"We welcome Westgate Financial to the Crestmark Bank family; we're confident that they'll strengthen our ability to help businesses in the apparel industry and the New York traditional factoring market," continued W. David Tull, Crestmark CEO and President.

Westgate Financial Corporation was founded in 1989 by Bruce Cohen to provide financing solutions to the apparel industry and over time has grown into a prominent metropolitan New York traditional factoring company. Additionally, they provide lines of credit, purchase guarantees, purchase order funding and factoring for the garment, accessories, jewelry industries, and more. Cohen acted as a consultant on this acquisition.

Crestmark is a nationally recognized provider of working capital solutions for small- to medium-sized businesses. In their factoring product line alone, they are likely to achieve in excess of $1.6 billion in factoring volume for 2010. The Westgate acquisition marks the fourth factoring company to be acquired by Crestmark in the last ten years as they expand their capabilities to provide working capital solutions to help businesses around the country.

Financing solutions include asset-based lending, accounts receivable financing, discount factoring, and traditional factoring to diverse industries such as apparel, furniture, government receivables, home furnishings, manufacturing, staffing, transportation, and more. Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, with regional offices in Florida, Louisiana and Tennessee; and sales offices located in Alabama, California, Florida, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Missouri, North Carolina and Texas.  www.crestmark.com

SOURCE Crestmark