Following Michael Steinhardt into the use of his substantial art collection to get better financing terms, Peter Brant has put up 56 works as collateral for a loan to buy White Birch—his family’s pulp mill business—out of bankruptcy. Brant has previously financed White Birch with other people’s money. According to Bloomberg’s Katya Kazakina, this time he’s using his art (and partnering with a distressed debt firm):
Brant, chairman and chief executive officer of White Birch Paper Co. in Greenwich, Connecticut, pledged 56 works of art to the lending arm of Sotheby’s (BID), including pieces by Warhol, Richard Prince and Jean-Michel Basquiat, according to a New York state filing. Separate filings show he also pledged pieces to a unit of Deutsche Bank AG and his former business partner, including a 1963 Warhol that one collector said has an estimated market value of as much as $35 million. […]
“Most banks are not lending to operating businesses today, so people are looking for alternative sources” of capital, said Andrew Rose, the founder of Art Finance Partners LLC, a New York firm that provides credit solutions to owners of unconventional assets, including art, antiques and collectibles. “If you already have a home-equity loan and a margin balance on your stock portfolio, where else do you go?”
Brant’s collection provided at least some of the capital needed to buy White Birch, ranked among the top three newsprint producers in North America, out of bankruptcy, according to a person familiar with his plans, who asked for anonymity because the information is private. […]
Brant will also use part of the proceeds from the borrowings to finance the purchase of another major piece of artwork, the person familiar with the plans said.
Baron Brant Pledges Warhol to Revive Family Business (Bloomberg)
