Monroe Capital established an Independent Sponsor Finance vertical to be led by Brad Bernstein, Chris Larson and Zia Uddin based out of the firm’s Chicago office.

The Independent Sponsor Finance vertical will focus on providing comprehensive “one-stop” solutions for independent sponsors seeking both debt and equity financing for acquisitions, mergers, business combinations and recapitalizations. In the last few years, Monroe funded 12 transactions involving more than $300 million of debt and equity capital to independent sponsors.

“Our team has a broad investment mandate and prides itself on its ability to move quickly and efficiently on new opportunities. The Independent Sponsor Finance vertical complements our existing healthcare, technology, media, specialty finance, and retail and consumer products and asset-based lending focused verticals,” said Ted Koenig, Monroe president and CEO.

In 2017, Monroe financed 77 direct lending investment transactions, involving more than $2 billion of new capital deployed. Monroe manages in excess of $5.2 billion in various funds including private credit funds, separately managed accounts, a publicly-traded BDC and other fund vehicles.