Axos Bank acquires Verdant Commercial Capital for $43.5m

California-based digital challenger Axos Bank has acquired 100% of the membership interests in Ohio-based equipment leasing firm Verdant Commercial Capital, with an initial purchase price of $43.5 million.

Founded in 2017, Verdant has established itself as one of the largest independent equipment finance companies in the US. As of 31 August 2025, the company boasts approximately $1.1 billion in loans and leases, including around $750 million in on-balance sheet securitisations, and $350 million in direct loans and leases.

Verdant offers a range of conditional sale leases, fair market value (FMV) leases, equipment finance leases, and terminal rental adjustment clause (TRAC) leases. The company originates small to mid-ticket leases ranging from $50,000 to $5 million across six sectors, including renewable energy, manufacturing, and technology.

Greg Garrabrants, president and CEO of Axos Financial (Axos Bank’s parent company), states that the acquisition “enhances our existing equipment leasing business with good risk-adjusted returns”. 

“We like Verdant’s specialisation in vendor-based equipment leasing and believe we can scale this business profitably. Additionally, we see opportunities to cross-sell commercial deposits and floorplan lending to manufacturers and dealers in several industry verticals such as specialty vehicles, golf, sports and entertainment,” Garrabrants continues. 

Axos will pay a 10% premium on Verdant’s book value at closing, with the transaction expected to be completed on 30 September 2025. The deal includes provisions for potential additional earn-out payments over the next four years, contingent upon Verdant achieving a return on equity exceeding 15%.

Garrabrants adds that by replacing Verdant’s “high-cost funding with our lower-cost deposit funding and growing new originations, we expect the transaction to be accretive to earnings per share by approximately 2%-3% in fiscal 2026 and 5%-6% in fiscal 2027”.

Axos Bank, headquartered in San Diego, was originally launched in 2000 as Bank of Internet USA. Since then, it has evolved from offering basic checking accounts to providing an array of financial products, including savings, commercial banking, lending, mortgages, various loans, and investment services.

Source: https://www.fintechfutures.com/