Axos Bank To Acquire Verdant Commercial Capital For $43.5 Mln

(RTTNews) - Axos Bank, the banking subsidiary of Axos Financial, Inc. (AX), announced it will acquire 100% of the membership interests in Verdant Commercial Capital, LLC, an independent equipment leasing company.

As of August 31, 2025, Verdant had approximately $1.1 billion in loans and leases, including $750 million of securitizations and $350 million of loans and leases.

Verdant specializes in originating small to mid-ticket leases between $50,000 and $5 million across six industry verticals nationwide. Its offerings include equipment finance leases, conditional sale leases, fair market value or FMV leases, and terminal rental adjustment clause or TRAC leases.

Greg Garrabrants, President and CEO of Axos Financial, said the acquisition will strengthen Axos' equipment leasing business and deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns. He highlighted Verdant's vendor-based leasing specialization and noted opportunities for profitable growth through cross-selling commercial deposits and floorplan lending to manufacturers and dealers in sectors such as specialty vehicles, golf, and sports and entertainment. Garrabrants added that replacing Verdant's higher-cost funding with Axos' lower-cost deposits and expanding new originations should make the deal accretive to earnings per share by roughly 2%-3% in fiscal 2026 and 5%-6% in fiscal 2027.

Axos will pay a 10% premium on Verdant's book value, with an estimated initial purchase price of $43.5 million, including a $4 million premium, to be paid in cash at closing. The seller may also receive up to $50 million in performance-based earn-outs over four years if Verdant achieves a return on equity above 15%.

The member interest purchase agreement was signed on September 19, 2025, with Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (a Stifel Company) serving as Verdant's exclusive financial advisor. The transaction is expected to close on September 30, 2025.

AX currently trades at $87.6 or 1.04% lower on the NYSE.