News and Announcements

Strategic Investment; Simultaneous Acquisition

Written by Jenniffer Breitenstein | Jan 24, 2023 12:30:00 PM

OnPoint Warranty Solutions Announces Strategic Investment from Waterfall Asset Management and Atalaya Capital Management; Simultaneous Acquisition of Guardian Protection Products

 OnPoint Warranty Solutions, LLC (“OnPoint”), a rapidly growing insuretech, mobile solutions and warranty services company, today announced that it has completed a strategic transaction with a private equity vehicle managed by Waterfall Asset Management, LLC (“Waterfall”) and Atalaya Capital Management (“Atalaya”). The investment from Waterfall and Atalaya supports the acquisition of Guardian Protection Products, Inc. (“Guardian”), and provides additional growth capital for OnPoint to further accelerate mobile and warranty product innovation, and to further enhance its' industry-leading, proprietary insurance technology platform: Service Avenger.

The acquisition of Guardian, a long-standing warranty administrator for premier furniture retailers, provides OnPoint with entrenched capabilities in the broader retail marketplace. OnPoint will also further enhance Service Avenger by integrating certain proprietary warranty administration technology developed by Guardian specifically for the retail sector. The existing management team at Guardian, led by Jed Rovin, will remain with the company under OnPoint’s ownership.

“Since 2018, we have invested in our team, operational processes and in Service Avenger, our insuretech platform,” said OnPoint CEO, Chris Smith. “Continuous product innovation, combined with our operational expertise and the API-forward design of Service Avenger, enables OnPoint to offer OEMs, retailers, resellers, MVNOs and carriers the ability to seamlessly offer, sell and administer mobile solutions and warranty services on a plethora of consumer and commercial products and home systems. We are proud of the growth in the business and the customer relationships we have earned to date, and we are thrilled to partner with Waterfall and Atalaya, who share our vision of providing innovative technology and first-class warranty services to our customers and their consumers and homeowners.”

“This investment and the Guardian acquisition will support our ongoing investment in people, products, and technology such that OnPoint can support its customers’ continued growth and customer warranty experience initiatives,” said Rob Christian, President and CRO of OnPoint. “With the addition of Guardian, its' management team, and its' retail acumen, we are best equipped to serve retailers in North America and beyond. Guardian’s deep relationships in US-based retail organizations and the proprietary, retail-oriented administration technology, enables OnPoint to catapult the development of Service Avenger, particularly for the global eCommerce segment of our business”.

"The Guardian Team could not have found a better home. We are delighted that Guardian's spirit of entrepreneurship and eye on innovation in the customer service marketplace will receive the investment and support from a group that is so similarly focused,” said Guardian General Manager, Jed Rovin.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with Chris and Rob to support OnPoint’s long-term growth strategy,” said Gene Weil, a Managing Director of Waterfall. “We believe OnPoint’s product sophistication, client-first approach to technology and service, and the addition of Guardian, will continue to help differentiate the company in the marketplace."

“The combination of OnPoint and Guardian creates a leading technology-enabled warranty administrator across a range of underlying consumer products,” said Bharath Subramanian, a Managing Director of Atalaya Capital Management. “We look forward to partnering with the experienced management team to take advantage of the significant growth opportunities available.”

Mayer Brown LLP served as legal counsel to Waterfall. Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe served as legal counsel to Atalaya. Bevilacqua PLLC served as legal counsel and Capstone Partners served as financial advisor to OnPoint. Calfee, Halter & Griswold LLP served as legal counsel and Houlihan Lokey served as financial advisor to Guardian.

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About OnPoint Warranty Solutions

OnPoint was launched by customer experience experts with proven success helping global brands by delivering underwriting and manufacturer warranty administration, mobile solutions, extended warranty programs, insuretech solutions and logistics, which drive the highest levels of consumer experience in the service industry. Building on a foundation of connected, multinational service networks, innovative insurance and marketing technology, and a global underwriter ecosystem, OnPoint creates brand loyalty through insuretech, mobile services and warranty solutions designed to reduce risk, increase efficiency, delight consumers, and improve our clients’ bottom lines. For more information, visit our website: www.onpointwarranty.com.

About Guardian Protection Products

Guardian Protection Products is a leader in the furniture protection industry. Since 1977, Guardian has earned the reputation for providing best-in-class protection programs and services to support the furniture retail experience. Guardian was previously owned by RPM International Inc., a world leader in specialty coatings, sealants and building materials.

About Atalaya Capital Management

Atalaya Capital Management is a privately held, SEC-registered, alternative investment advisory firm. Atalaya primarily focuses on making private credit and special situation investments in three principal asset classes – specialty finance, real estate and corporate. Founded in 2006, Atalaya is headquartered in New York City and has more than $9.7 billion in assets under management and has deployed over $14 billion across 500 investments.

About Waterfall Asset Management

Based in New York, Waterfall Asset Management is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Waterfall invests in asset-based credit and private equity across multiple sectors of the specialty finance and financial technology industries. As of December 1, 2022, Waterfall had approximately $11.2 billion in assets under management.