DelGatto and Koin Partner on Tender Financing

RAPAPORT… DelGatto Diamond Finance will provide funding directly to customers of rough and polished tender operator Koin International.

“All buyers can obtain financing,” DelGatto founder Chris Del Gatto told Rapaport News Wednesday. “It will be up to them if they want to reach out to us prior and discuss what they think they want financing-wise, or they can even do it the day of the tender — we’ll have people there also.”

Koin, which holds rough and polished diamond tenders in several countries, will market DelGatto’s services directly to its clients, who are preapproved, Del Gatto explained. All financing is collateral-based, meaning the amount Koin clients can borrow directly corresponds to the inventory they have.

Customers will have 12 months to pay back the loan, after which the fund will have the option to renew it for a longer period or call in the debt, Del Gatto noted.

Del Gatto expects the collaboration with Koin to be the first of many tender-financing collaborations for his company.

“We are in the process of possibly announcing another major partnership in Dubai,” he said. “We are trying to partner with as many good strategic partners as possible.”

DelGatto also offers industry financing, as well as full banking services through a partnership with a Swiss bank. The company is currently working on new finance services for the diamond industry.

“It’s a question of timing and opportunity,” Del Gatto explained. “We’re an industry that really needs good private lenders, and unfortunately the banks never really understood us, because we are such a small part of their market. I’ve been in the industry since I was 17, starting as a diamond cutter, and I have a confidence and love for the industry the banks don’t.”


Image: Rough diamonds. (Shutterstock)