Capital Southwest supported Milestone Partners III’s recent financing of Blaschak Coal, a domestic miner, preparer and marketer of Pennsylvania anthracite coal, with an $8.5 million split lien term loan.

The loan will be used to refinance existing senior debt and provide growth capital. Capital Southwest is the sole administrative agent and lender on the split lien facility.

“We are pleased to partner with Blaschak and Milestone in this transaction,” said Douglas Kelley, managing director of Capital Southwest. “Anthracite is a high grade of coal with energy content and purity characteristics that allow it to sell into unique end markets relative to the broader coal industry, with a majority of the company’s revenue derived in the rural residential heating market in the Northern U.S. and Canada.”

Matt Darrah, principal of Capital Southwest, added, “Blaschak’s strong market position, the long-term stability of the company’s end markets and the company’s significant asset base, allowed us to offer a creative financing solution that provides increased operating flexibility to the company in a debt facility with collateral coverage for Capital Southwest.”

Founded in 1995 and based outside Philadelphia, Milestone Partners is a private equity firm that partners with management to invest in leveraged buyouts and recapitalizations of lower middle market businesses.