(Bloomberg) -- Barclays Plc is joining rivals in backing a firm that’s looking to upend the way Wall Street keeps track of corporate loan data.
The UK lender participated in a $26 million capital raise for Versana, a two-year-old platform that allows lenders to access data and information about $2.7 trillion worth of loans in one place, according to a statement. Existing investors including Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. also joined in the fundraising.
As part of the deal, Barclays will also provide its agented corporate loan data to Versana, the 10th bank to do so. It’s also the first British bank to join the platform.
Unlike bonds, there’s very little publicly available or standardized information about how loans are structured. Instead, every loan has what’s called an administrative agent, which is supposed to provide lenders and investors updates on things like interest payments or amendments to legal documentation.
The problem is these updates can come in a variety of ways including via email, instant message, phone calls and even the occasional fax. Investors have lamented that if they do have questions or have trouble reconciling data in their systems with the information presented by the administrative agent, it can be hard to track down answers.
Versana is seeking to put all that information in one place, according to a statement.
“The traditional way data is distributed, consumed and processed is overwhelming,” Cynthia Sachs, founding chief executive officer of Versana, said in an interview. “We’ve built a proper foundation for managing corporate loans and Barclays coming in is an enormous step forward.”
Other existing investors including Deutsche Bank AG, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co. also joined in the latest fundraising.
The investment comes at a time of rapid growth for the syndicated-loan market as banks have sought to win back share from private credit firms, which have spent years luring away clients and siphoning off corporate-loan business.
For Versana, which has also been trying to make inroads in private credit, it’s the second time the company has raised funds since the start of 2023.
The data firm raised $40 million last year and said at the time it would have more than 75% of syndicated loans in the US on its platform. The company now has data on more than 4,800 corporate loan facilities, according to the statement on Tuesday.
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