ATLANTA, GA. and GREENWICH, CT., July 27, 2011 – Stone Point Capital LLC announced today the formation of Access Point Financial, Inc., a newly created specialty finance company focused on the hospitality industry.
Access Point is a full-service lending and advisory platform that will provide financing to qualified franchisees of major hotel brands throughout the United States. The company expects to originate over $1 billion of loans over the course of its first three years of operations.
Trident V, L.P., a private equity fund managed by Stone Point Capital, is partnering with Jon S. Wright (top right photo) and other members of the Access Point senior management team to form the company.
Wright, who will serve as president and CEO of Access Point, will lead a team of industry veterans with more than 100 years of combined hospitality finance experience. Wright is the former president and managing director of Specialty Finance Group.
Previously, Wright founded the Asset Backed Lending Group for GMAC Commercial Mortgage and managed the hospitality franchise industry’s first captive finance division for InterContinental Hotel Group. Wright and his team are widely recognized as leaders in the development and implementation of hotel finance programs for franchise hotel owners.“Initially, we will focus on creating lending programs to facilitate renovations for major hotel brands and their franchisees, an area where we have substantial expertise and deep relationships,” Wright said.
“Industry experts estimate that a significant percentage of hotels must immediately implement brand-mandated Product Improvement Plans (PIP), which typically is a recurring requirement,” he said.
“During the recent severe economic downturn, hotel owners were hesitant to invest additional dollars in their hotels and lenders were unwilling to provide the capital.
“ As a result, there is a tremendous backlog of necessary renovation projects and a need for capital to finance them. Access Point will fill this need. We have already begun developing programs with a number of leading hotel brands and expect to announce our first significant program in the coming weeks.”
Charles A. Davis (top left photo), CEO of Stone Point Capital, said, “We are pleased to be partnering with Jon Wright and his team to build Access Point Financial.
The formation of this company is in response to the dislocation that has developed in the hospitality finance sector in recent years. The Access Point team has built an excellent reputation and a consistent record of strong performance over a 20-year period in the hospitality finance industry.”
In addition to the need for capital to finance renovations, Wright noted that there also is sizeable demand for hotel debt refinancing as billions of CMBS and other loans are forecasted to come due by the end of 2012. “We have long-standing relationships with a substantial number of these hotel owners and investors. We know their track records and their ability to execute. The timing is excellent for a financing organization like ours, and we anticipate significant demand for our products.”
Contact information for Access Point Financial, Inc.:
1 Ravina Drive, Suite 900, Atlanta, GA 30346, (404) 382-9599
For further information about Stone Point Capital, see www.stonepoint.com.
Contact: Jerry Daly, Chris Daly, (703) 435-6293, jerry@dalygray.com
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