Asta Funding Expands Credit Agreement

In a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Asta Funding (Nasdaq: ASFI) informed regulators that they had amended their loan agreement with several banks and business lenders.

The terms of the amendment call for Asta’s lenders to temporarily increase their revolving loan commitment to the debt purchaser by $10 million. Asta’s old limit was $175 million and that total is being moved to $185 million. The temporary increase expires on February 29 of next year.

Asta did not specifically say what the additional money will be used for, but under one clause of the agreement the company must seek approval from all of the lenders before making portfolio purchases from a certain entity, Palisades Acquisition XVI, an entity that is a part of the Asta corporate structure.

Lenders in the agreement include a Merrill Lynch Business Financial Services unit, Provident Bank, and Israel Discount Bank of New York.