Market updates and sector developments

Obra Capital has partnered with the Solera Auto Finance (SAF) team in a management buyout from Solera Corp. SAF will be rebranded as Arra Finance and by combining the company’s skills with Obra’s existing structuring and credit expertise, the aim is to jointly work with securitisation market participants and forward flow purchasers to create highly rated assets.

SAF has developed relationships with 6,000 franchise and independent dealerships across 44 states since being founded in April 2022. The company intends to leverage these relationships for an expected 3Q24 market re-entry to provide a subprime auto financing solution for used car buyers. Arra Finance’s scalable loan origination system, proprietary scorecard and data warehouse provides franchise and independent dealers access to finance solutions to facilitate auto sales for the dealership’s customers. 

As part of the transaction, industry veteran Kenn Wardle will continue as ceo and chief revenue officer, while Steven Lackowski will continue as cfo. In addition, Allan Thompson will continue to serve as chief of staff, Cinde Perales will remain as head of compliance and Eugene Sims will remain as head of underwriting and funding operations. The leadership team has an average 25 years of auto finance experience, with experience in scaling finance platforms.

Arra Finance will continue to be based out of Irving, Texas.

Corinne Smith