NY loan provider Ciena Capital files bankruptcy

NEW YORK, Sept 30 (Reuters) - Ciena Capital LLC, a New York provider of real estate loans to small and midsized businesses, filed on Tuesday for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The company and 10 affiliates filed for protection from creditors with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan, a court filing shows. Ciena had between $100 million and $500 million of both assets and liabilities, according to the filing.

Ciena said it offers business real estate loans and long-term real estate financing, as well as factoring services. In factoring, a lender buys a company's accounts receivable.

Prior to January, Ciena was known as Business Loan Express. The company said its largest unsecured creditor was the U.S. Small Business Administration, which has a disputed $1.78 million claim, according to the filing. (Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)