D.C.-based Hawk One Security, the firm charged with providing guards to the city’s public school district, received $80 million in last-minute financing from Platinum Funding Group, allowing it to pay its workers before a strike took place, Platinum announced Tuesday.
Hawk One Security had found itself without the funding needed to pay its guards’ salaries last week, because of a dispute with its former finance firm, D.C. Interim Chief Procurement Officer, Oscar Rodriguez said Tuesday.
Hawk One did not return calls seeking comment.
The city weighed options such as finding a last-minute new contractor or bringing in the D.C. police to serve as guards if the dispute wasn’t resolved, Rodriguez said.
New York-based investment firm Platinum Funding Group became aware of the issue through a broker last Monday, and provided $80 million in financing to Hawk One Security by March 14, preventing a strike, CEO Eyal Levy said Tuesday.
The company has agreed to partner with Hawk One for at least three years, he said.
“Quick financing is what we’re good at,” Levy said. “That kind of financing usually takes around three days, but because they were so pressed, we took some risks and decided to do it.”
Levy said he had reservations about awarding the money, given the time constraints and the position Hawk One was in, but decided to go forward after hearing good things about the company from city officials.
Meanwhile, the D.C. government still waits to find out how Hawk One got itself into the situation in the first place, Rodriguez said. He has contacted Hawk One requesting they explain how the problem occurred and how the company will prevent it from happening again.
“We needed to get through the crisis first, but now expect to get the full story on how it happened,” Rodriguez said. “But it’s a very good company that certainly came through in the end.”
