Key Takeaways
- • Franklin Templeton and Benefit Street Partners (BSP) completed a transaction with Encina Lender Finance that adds a 14-person Encina investment team and an initial seed portfolio of approximately $480 million in commitments to BSP's asset-backed finance (ABF) platform.
- • The seed portfolio sits in a new fund backed by Franklin Templeton and BSP-affiliated funds, which lets the team keep originating and managing investments through the strategy without an outright corporate acquisition.
- • Encina provides senior secured, unitranche and first-out financing to consumer and commercial asset originators across the U.S. and Canada, secured by consumer loans, credit card receivables and small business loans.
- • Post-deal, BSP's combined ABF platform has roughly 100 investment professionals, a track record dating to 2013, more than $10 billion of investments completed since inception, and an estimated origination capacity above $3 billion per year, per BSP.
- • Franklin Templeton cited industry data showing ABF accounted for around 20% of private credit fundraising in 2025, within a global private credit market of roughly $6 trillion.
Summary
Franklin Templeton and its alternative credit manager Benefit Street Partners said they have completed a transaction with Encina Lender Finance that expands BSP's asset-backed finance platform. A new fund backed by Franklin Templeton and BSP-affiliated funds acquired an initial seed portfolio with approximately $480 million of commitments originated by Encina, and a 14-person Encina investment team has joined BSP to keep managing and originating investments through the strategy.
The Encina team provides senior secured, unitranche and first-out financing to consumer and commercial asset originators across the U.S. and Canada, backed by diversified pools of collateral that include consumer loans, credit card receivables and small business loans. BSP said the deal broadens its capabilities in consumer and commercial lender finance.
The transaction continues BSP's buildout of a multi-strategy, middle-market private ABF platform that now spans corporate asset-backed lending, equipment leasing, aircraft leasing, consumer finance and lender finance. According to BSP, the combined platform has access to roughly 100 investment professionals and a track record dating to 2013, and it believes the platform can now originate more than $3 billion a year.
The structure differs from an outright corporate acquisition. Franklin Templeton used its balance sheet to seed a fund with an existing book and an intact team, a template that lets managers add origination capacity quickly while giving future limited partners a visible starting portfolio. Franklin Templeton cited industry data showing ABF accounted for around 20% of private credit fundraising in 2025.
As of September 30, Franklin Templeton managed $1.8 trillion, including more than $300 billion in alternatives, of which about $97 billion is managed by BSP. Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Franklin Templeton and BSP, while Berkshire Global Advisors served as exclusive financial advisor to Encina Lender Finance.
The Encina team provides senior secured, unitranche and first-out financing to consumer and commercial asset originators across the U.S. and Canada, backed by diversified pools of collateral that include consumer loans, credit card receivables and small business loans. BSP said the deal broadens its capabilities in consumer and commercial lender finance.
The transaction continues BSP's buildout of a multi-strategy, middle-market private ABF platform that now spans corporate asset-backed lending, equipment leasing, aircraft leasing, consumer finance and lender finance. According to BSP, the combined platform has access to roughly 100 investment professionals and a track record dating to 2013, and it believes the platform can now originate more than $3 billion a year.
The structure differs from an outright corporate acquisition. Franklin Templeton used its balance sheet to seed a fund with an existing book and an intact team, a template that lets managers add origination capacity quickly while giving future limited partners a visible starting portfolio. Franklin Templeton cited industry data showing ABF accounted for around 20% of private credit fundraising in 2025.
As of September 30, Franklin Templeton managed $1.8 trillion, including more than $300 billion in alternatives, of which about $97 billion is managed by BSP. Willkie Farr & Gallagher and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett advised Franklin Templeton and BSP, while Berkshire Global Advisors served as exclusive financial advisor to Encina Lender Finance.
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