Three of the word’s larger financial services firm – Apollo, Athene and BNP Paribas – have come together to launch Eliant Inventory Solutions, a global provider of inventory capital solutions aimed at optimizing supply chains and balance sheets.
With rising costs, sluggish growth, continuing supply chain disruption and the current geopolitical crisis in Europe causing havoc, large companies are increasingly looking for economically efficient ways to bolster resiliency within their supply chain while mitigating inflation.
The mounting financial pressures means that companies are seeking more efficient working capital management, including better costs management of inventory and asset financing.
Investment banks have been providing supply chain financing for over a decade. Demand is growing rapidly because the costs of building up inventories and running complex, multi-geography supply chain is consuming more and more of companies’ working capital – its cash – and resources.
This is where the recently launched Eliant Inventory Solutions comes in, which since its launch earlier this year has already grown to $1.3 billion in (signed or awarded) inventory asset value under its management. Multinationals outsource their inventory to Eliant, which has the capabilities and technology to own and manage inventory “at the most efficient cost of capital” in the market.
“Supply chain resiliency and working capital efficiency are key concerns of corporations, and through Eliant, they can quickly adapt to the challenges of the real economy,” explained Suresh Subramanian, Head of Trade & Treasury Solutions Americas at BNP Paribas. Apollo Partner Ephraim Rudman added, “Eliant serves the growing market for flexible inventory and trade finance solutions.”
Of the co-founders, Athene serves as the primary capital provider, while Apollo acts as the investment manager. French bank BNP Paribas provides debt and receivables financing as well as structuring advisory to Eliant.
GEP, an award-winning procurement and supply chain consultancy, joined the consortium as the exclusive provider of supply chain and procurement consulting, software and managed services.
According to Jagadish Turimella, GEP’s chief operating officer and co-founder, Eliant is a disruptor in the supply chain outsourcing and finance space. “The model allows companies to get their inventory off their balance sheets, en masse,” said Turimella, “so they can make better use of their money while improving the operation of their entire supply chain.”
Under the guidance of Eliant and GEP, inventory is financed, managed, distributed, and optimized by experts that are adept in managing high-volume and complex global supply chains. Alongside providing the consulting expertise and procurement delivery services, GEP’s AI-powered software platform provides full transparency across the value chain and in costs including spend and inventory management.
With Eliant, companies move the day-to-day job of running their complex supply chains to GEP’s AI-driven cloud-based platforms, eliminating the need to invest millions and years upgrading inhouse legacy platforms. Running the supply chain on GEP’s purpose-built platform, forces transparency and collaboration across key functions – demand planning, procurement, supplier management, real-time inventory management, overstock and inventory obsolescence.
GEP’s algorithms then use this real-time orders, inventory, shipments, and supplier data to scan for predictive patterns and see around corners.
Reflecting on one client that has come on board as an early customer, Turimella highlighted how Eliant is helping the company “free up working capital tied to inventory sitting in warehouses and ports around the world.”
Turimella concluded, “Eliant is a truly innovative, trailblazing company that pairs its global financing experience and strength with our consulting and software under one umbrella for enterprises to reinvent their global supply chains.”
Sourced from Consultancy.us