Encina Equipment Finance and CrowdOut Capital provided debt financing to Shale Support, a provider of frac sand and logistical solutions to the oil and gas proppant market.

CrowdOut served as the administrative agent and Encina as the collateral agent on the transaction.

CrowdOut also completed a multi-million dollar term loan for Shale Support. The proceeds will support the acquisition of two sand mines, spanning over 1,000 acres that contain more than 100 million tons of recoverable high-grade frac sand, and finance capital expenditures to increase production capacity at the same mines.

“The frac sand business is growing quickly and we needed a partner that could be nimble and help us to keep pace with market demand,” said Jeff Bartlam, co-founder and president of Shale Support. “CrowdOut provided the flexibility and efficiency that rigid traditional lenders could not.”

“We are seeing more companies like Shale Support seek out non-bank financing solutions, especially in the energy, oil and gas space,” said Alexander Schoenbaum, CEO of CrowdOut. “Our flexible structures and collaborative approach to underwriting loans is a unique value proposition over banks and traditional credit funds.”

Founded in 2015, CrowdOut a private lending syndication platform that provides term loans to middle market companies with annual revenues between $10 million and $500 million that seek to expand, acquire or grow.