Apollo Winds Down Mid-Market Trade Finance Products at Eliant

Apollo Global Management is closing several product lines at its Eliant Trade Finance platform following a challenging year for the inventory financing sector, according to Bloomberg News.

The firm is discontinuing offerings focused on mid-market accounts receivable and supply-chain finance. These services involve purchasing invoices and advancing supplier payments for companies that need to move goods without locking up cash.

The shuttered initiatives represent less than 10% of Eliant's total assets, sources told Bloomberg. Eliant's core business — lending directly against companies' inventory — will continue operating.

Apollo and its insurance arm Athene launched Eliant in 2022 alongside BNP Paribas. The platform was designed to deliver strategic inventory capital solutions that help companies optimize supply chains and balance sheets while maintaining inventory buffers.

Together with Athene, we have established Eliant to serve the growing market for flexible inventory and trade finance solutions, while helping our clients access high-quality, recurring asset origination.

That statement came from Apollo Partner Ephraim Rudman at the platform's launch.

Trade finance has faced mounting scrutiny after several prominent failures, including the collapse of First Brands last year.

The sector is caught in what observers have called a paradox: global trade volumes remain robust, but securing safe financing for those transactions has become increasingly difficult. Shifting tariffs, unreliable shipping routes, and supply chains reorganising around geopolitical risks have made financing goods inseparable from managing uncertainty.

The line separating commercial trade finance from industrial policy has also blurred as these pressures intensify.

FinTechs are gaining ground in cross-border commerce as traditional providers struggle. Research from PYMNTS Intelligence and Mastercard shows 36% of internationally active US small to medium-sized businesses expected to use FinTechs or payment providers for cross-border purchases this year, up from 30% in 2025.

Banks still dominate the space. Some 64% of internationally active SMBs used traditional banks for cross-border supplier payments in 2025, with 69% expecting to use them in 2026.

The volatility in trade finance markets is creating an opening for nimble providers to challenge established players as companies seek more flexible and responsive financing solutions.