CAN Capital's Equipment Finance Grab: What the Republic Bank Finance Acquisition Signals for the Alt-Lending Landscape

SUMMARY

On February 23, 2026, CAN Capital announced the acquisition of the equipment finance portfolio and platform of Republic Bank Finance, a division of Republic Bancorp. The deal transforms one of alternative lending's longest-running working capital players into a diversified specialty finance provider capable of competing across a much broader slice of the small business credit market.

THE DEAL AT A GLANCE

CAN Capital, the Atlanta-based alternative lender founded in 1998, has acquired the equipment finance portfolio and operating platform of Republic Bank Finance, the St. Louis-based equipment finance division of Republic Bancorp that traces its roots through the former Commercial Industrial Finance (CIF), a firm with over 35 years of history in vendor and equipment financing.

The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed. What was disclosed tells a clear strategic story: CAN Capital is not just buying a portfolio. It is buying an operating platform, a partner network, a book of vendor relationships, and a set of capabilities in sectors including manufacturing, medical, material handling, transportation, and energy, industries where Republic Bank Finance has built deep relationships over decades.

For CAN Capital, the backdrop matters. The company has deployed more than $8 billion in financing to over 80,000 small businesses since its inception. Its model has been built around speed, data-driven underwriting, and working capital, merchant cash advances, and short-term business loans to small and medium-sized businesses moving fast. Adding equipment finance to that stack is not a minor product extension. It is a fundamental repositioning.

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WHAT SICILIANO IS ACTUALLY BUILDING

CEO Ed Siciliano has been telegraphing this move for years. When he joined CAN Capital in early 2019, his stated goal was to expand the company's product offerings beyond a single product category and reduce reliance on any one customer acquisition channel. Siciliano came to CAN Capital from Marlin Business Services, an equipment finance company, bringing with him a playbook rooted in asset-backed lending rather than purely velocity-driven cash advance.

The language he used to announce this deal is deliberate and worth parsing. He described the acquisition as enabling CAN Capital to become a "one-stop shop" for small business borrowing needs. He said the company is "neutral on customer product choice", meaning CAN Capital will not push borrowers toward working capital or equipment finance based on what's better for CAN Capital's margins. It will let borrower need drive product selection.

That is a notable philosophical statement from the CEO of a company that built its name on merchant cash advance and short-term working capital. It suggests CAN Capital is genuinely trying to reorient around the customer relationship rather than the transaction.

Siciliano also made clear that neither portfolio will cannibalize the other: the company intends to grow both the equipment finance book and the working capital book. The acquisition is additive, not substitutive.

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WHY REPUBLIC BANK FINANCE WAS THE RIGHT ASSET

Republic Bank Finance was not a random acquisition target. The platform brought specific capabilities that would have taken CAN Capital years to build organically:

Vendor and manufacturer relationships. Republic Bank Finance's model was built around partnering with equipment manufacturers and their dealer networks, essentially embedding financing into the sales process at the point of equipment purchase. Those relationships are sticky, are built over years, and represent a distribution channel that is fundamentally different from CAN Capital's broker and direct channels.

Sector depth. Republic Bank Finance had developed specialized programs in energy efficiency, healthcare, manufacturing, and transportation sectors with distinct equipment financing needs and credit dynamics. That domain knowledge does not come with a product launch; it comes with years of portfolio experience.

Operational infrastructure. CAN Capital explicitly cited acquiring an "operating platform", not just a book of receivables. That means people, processes, underwriting systems, and servicing capabilities purpose-built for equipment-backed transactions. For a company used to underwriting short-duration unsecured working capital, that infrastructure has real value.

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THE COMPETITIVE CONTEXT: WHY THIS MATTERS BEYOND CAN CAPITAL

This deal is part of a broader pattern in alternative and specialty finance. Working capital lenders, whether MCA providers, short-term lenders, or fintech originators, are increasingly bumping against product limitations as their borrower bases mature and demand more sophisticated financing solutions.

The problem is structural. A small business that gets its first working capital advance of $25,000 grows over time. Its needs evolve. It wants equipment financing for a new truck fleet. It wants a longer-term loan to fund an expansion. It wants a credit line that doesn't reprice every 90 days. If the lender it trusts cannot serve those needs, that borrower will find another provider, and the relationship built over years of working capital transactions walks out the door.

The "one-stop shop" thesis CAN Capital is now pursuing has been tested by many others in the market. What has changed in 2026 is that the maturation of the core alternative lending customer base makes product diversification not just strategic but necessary for retention.

For brokers and ISOs, the implications are real. CAN Capital's expanded platform means a lender in their network can now serve a broader range of deal types. A broker who previously had to shop equipment deals to a separate equipment finance funder may now find a single relationship covering both working capital and equipment needs. That kind of consolidation can be a convenience, but it also means that lenders with broad product stacks gain more leverage in broker relationships.