J.C. Flowers makes majority investment in iLendingDIRECT
Private equity firm J.C. Flowers & Co. LLC agreed to make a majority investment in iLendingDIRECT Inc., an Englewood, Colo.-based auto refinance marketing company. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The deal is expected to close in the first half of 2021. ILending, through strategic partnerships with credit unions, banks and other financial institutions nationwide, offers consumers lower interest rates on auto loans and other financing solutions. ILending CEO Nancy Fitzgerald and President and COO Tom Holgate will remain investors in the company. After the deal closes, Fitzgerald will become a member of the board of directors and serve as a strategic consultant to iLending. Holgate will take over as acting CEO of iLending. Weil Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel to J.C. Flowers. Locke Lord LLP served as legal counsel and Roth Capital acted as financial adviser to iLending.
iLendingDIRECT CEO Wins Colorado’s Top 25 Most Powerful Women Award
Nancy Fitzgerald, Co-Founder & CEO of iLendingDIRECT Auto Refinancing, has been named one of the 2020 Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business by the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce. The award, now in its 8th year, has recognized more than 200 women who excel in leadership, mentoring, and philanthropy in Denver and the surrounding areas. This year, Nancy stands proudly alongside 24 other influential female leaders in Colorado. Nancy brought her two children, ages 9 and 12, to the award ceremony. “As a single mother and an entrepreneur, you have to make sacrifices to succeed. It’s important to me that my children understand that my achievements aren’t possible without their love and support,” says Nancy. “I want my daughter to see herself in each of those women on stage and raise my son as a strong supporter of women in business.” Nancy Fitzgerald became an unexpected CEO in 2014, when her husband and co-founder of iLendingDIRECT, Patrick, passed away after a cycling accident. Since then, she led the company to placement on the 2016 Inc. 500 Fastest-Growing Private Companies and expanded the business to include innovative new verticals. Nancy has also been awarded the Auto Remarketing Women in Remarketing Award (2016), the Insights Success Magazine’s 30 Most Influential Women in Business (2016), led her company to be awarded the Better Business Bureau’s Torch Award for Ethics in Business (2018), and was a nominee for the 2019 Denver Business Journal’s Outstanding Women In Business. She is now honored to include the Colorado Women’s Chamber of Commerce Top 25 Most Powerful Women in Business in this list of recognitions. About iLendingDIRECT Founded in 2006, iLendingDIRECT is a national leader in automotive refinancing. Through strategic partnerships with credit unions, banks, and other financial institutions nationwide, the company offers competitive interest rates on auto loans and creative financing solutions to thousands of consumers a year. iLendingDIRECT is a Better Business Bureau® Accredited Business and maintains an A+ rating. The company also won first place in the 2018 BBB Torch Awards for Business Ethics in the large business category for demonstrating the highest level of credibility, trust, and transaction excellence while saving people money.
iLendingDIRECT Co-Founder and Chief Strategist Wins Outstanding Women in Business Award.
Englewood, CO, July 14, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Nancy Fitzgerald, Co-Founder & Chief Strategist of iLendingDIRECT, has been named a winner of the 2021 Outstanding Women in Business award from the Denver Business Journal. Nominees for this award are judged on their leadership, business contributions and innovations, in addition to community involvement. “I’m incredibly honored and humbled to receive this recognition,” says Fitzgerald. “Women leaders across Colorado are pushing the boundaries of innovation and I’m proud to count myself among them.” iLendingDIRECT, a national leader in automotive refinance, was recently acquired by J.C. Flowers, a leading private investment firm. Fitzgerald noted, “Finding the perfect partner was so important, knowing the growth that we are projecting. Working with Tom Harding and the team at J.C. Flowers to finalize the majority stake investment was a key achievement for me personally and one that I know will benefit the company and our customers long term.” The Outstanding Women in Business recognition joins the ranks of numerous other awards secured by iLendingDIRECT and Nancy Fitzgerald, including: Since 2015, the company has funded more than $1.6 billion in loans for customers and helped over 70,000 families improve their financial health.
The life and legacy of Patrick Fitzgerald
The founder of The Butterfly Foundation. After the tragic loss of her husband, Patrick, Nancy turned her grief into a powerful…
This is the inspiring story of Nancy Fitzgerald
The founder of The Butterfly Foundation. After the tragic loss of her husband, Patrick, Nancy turned her grief into a powerful…
How turning a Daewoo got Fitzgerald on path to lead iLendingDIRECT
CARY, N.C. – Some of Nancy Fitzgerald’s earliest memories upon entering the automotive industry include a Daewoo and a first job where the tasks included just about everything under the sun. Fitzgerald — who is now as president and chief executive officer of iLendingDIRECT — began her automotive career when she and her late husband, Patrick, opened a small dealership in Denver. “We literally began in a building that used to be a garage and still had the lingering smell of oil and fumes of gasoline, but it worked,” said Fitzgerald, a 2016 Women in Remarketing honoree. “Patrick was the manager and lead sales persons, and I did everything else. That included the marketing, accounting — and sadly even cleaning the toilets. “It was an exciting time as we felt our way through the business, learning every step of the way,” she continued. “When I look back, I recognize that we began the dealership with the vision and dream of expanding the business into something much more than it was in the early days.” What about the Daewoo? Well, that was the first vehicle Nancy Fitzgerald ever retailed. The turn convinced her that she wanted to pursue a long-lasting career in the automotive space. “It was a Daewoo; yes I am admitting that,” Fitzgerald said. “I tried to convince the young man to buy anything else, but he was adamant and he said it was all he could afford. He was as happy as a clam. I was hooked. He was happy and that made me happy. “That first sale and writing my first refinance loan got me hooked,” she continued. “This line of business was completely new to me as prior to that I worked as a news anchor and reporter. I thoroughly enjoyed the challenge and the service aspect of the job and it was exhilarating to capture that success.” The exhilaration and success of retailing vehicles allowed the couple to expand and eventually form a new company, Fleet Financial, which has since been rebranded as iLendingDIRECT. The company is designed to provide low‐interest auto loans and end‐of‐lease financing programs directly to consumers, specializing in tailored solutions to customers’ unique financial situations. “I love that we truly help people when we refinance their auto loans or get them a fleet vehicle thousands of dollars back of book,” Fitzgerald said. “We take people from double-digit to single-digit interest rates. For our customer saving $100 a month on their auto loan means food on the table at the end of the month, or catching up on their bills. “One of my favorite stories is when we did a cash-out title loan for one couple, giving them $10,000 cash and that enabled them to adopt a baby together. That was so special. Giving a woman the news that we pulled through for her and she will soon be a mother was pretty incredible,” she went on to say. The trajectory of the company changed dramatically when Patrick Fitzgerald was killed while riding his bicycle in 2014. Now Nancy Fitzgerald has some refined strategy when it comes time to make important decisions; a recommendations she hopes others follow. “I always give myself the 24-hour rule. Don’t make a critical decision without really thinking it through. Don’t rush,” Fitzgerald said. “I really do have an incredible team around me, and I rely on their expertise to help guide us. We passionately debate problems, and that is a good thing. Conflict is good,” she continued. “At the end of the day, it is a decision that will affect us all so we need to see it from every angle,” Fitzgerald went on to say. “And once we come to the path we need to take, we all have buy-in. It may not be the solution we would have chosen if left in a vacuum alone, but it’s the right decision for the company.” Check out the April 15 edition of Auto Remarketing to learn more about the entire class of 2016 Women in Remarketing honorees. These outstanding leaders will be honored at Used Car Week 2016, where we will be launching our National Remarketing Conference partnership with the National Auto Auction Association.
Winning Best Places to Work 2016
The founder of The Butterfly Foundation. After the tragic loss of her husband, Patrick, Nancy turned her grief into a powerful…