WILMINGTON, Del., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- WSFS Financial Corporation , the parent company of WSFS Bank, today announced that it has partnered with a consortium of banks to provide bridge financing to BLF Acquisitions, Inc., the investor group led by Albert Boscov and his brother-in-law Edwin Lakin. The consortium, composed of eight community banks from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, provided a $46.7 million bridge loan allowing BLF Acquisitions to purchase the assets of Boscov's out of bankruptcy. The bridge loan was needed to supplement the required financing for the purchase until funds are made available through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Section 108 loan guarantee program.
WSFS Bank was the only community bank headquartered in Delaware to participate in the loan. Boscov's, America's largest family-owned department store, has three stores in Delaware located in Wilmington, Christiana and Dover and operates a total of 39 department stores in the Mid-Atlantic region.
"WSFS continues to lend and put our mission of 'Strengthening the Core of Delaware' to work, in this case, by helping a family-owned department store important to the Delaware economy remain open for business," said Rodger Levenson, Executive Vice President and Director of Commercial Banking.
About WSFS Financial Corporation
WSFS Financial Corporation is a $3.3 billion financial services company. Its primary subsidiary, Wilmington Savings Fund Society, FSB (WSFS Bank), operates 35 retail banking offices located in Delaware and Pennsylvania, as well as three loan production offices in Dover, Delaware; Blue Bell, Pennsylvania and Annandale, Virginia. WSFS Bank provides comprehensive financial services including personal trust and wealth management. Other subsidiaries include WSFS Investment Group, Inc., Montchanin Capital Management, Inc. and 1st Reverse Financial Services, LLC. Founded in 1832, WSFS is one of the ten oldest banks in the United States continuously operating under the same name. For more information, please visit the Bank's website at http://www.wsfsbank.com/.
