Cards as Collateral: PWCC Lands $175 Million for Cash Advance Program
Trading card auction house PWCC Marketplace has secured $175 million in funding from WhiteHawk Capital to expand its business offering loans to customers.
PWCC—one of the largest card online card brokers, which was the main trading card vendor on Ebay until last year—will use the money to expand its series of loan and cash advance products to customers who use their trading cards as collateral.
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“This financing benefits the market as loans and cash advances have become an increasingly asked-for offering among trading card collectors,” Chad Fister, PWCC chief financial officer, said in an email. “Enabling our clients to access liquidity through a menu of capital offerings is key as trading cards continue to prove themselves to be a valuable tangible asset class.”
WhiteHawk is what’s known as a middle market lender, providing financing to other businesses. The Los Angeles-based company has $573 million in assets under management, according to its latest regulatory filing. WhiteHawk lends across industries, including having made a $65 million first lien term loan to Hall of Fame Resort & Entertainment, which is focused on developing football themed experiences in Canton, Ohio, and a $20 million loan to toymaker Jakks Pacific.
Right now, PWCC offers loans to clients who store their cards with the company, cash advances for auctions and year-long capital notes to fund card-backed cash advances and auction activity, funding about $50 million a month, according to a spokesperson. The company has $750 million worth of cards stored in its vault. The collectibles market has been booming especially since the onset of the pandemic. PWCC says its broadest market index, the PWCC 500, is up 902% since January 2008.
The investment bank D.A. Davidson served as the financial advisor for PWCC in the WhiteHawk deal, PWCC said in a press release.
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