North Mill Equipment Finance, a commercial equipment lessor located in Norwalk, Connecticut, formed a new partnership with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, a global investment firm with deep expertise in credit and asset-backed finance. The collaboration launches a joint venture designed to grow NMEF’s fair market value (FMV) equipment leasing platform, alongside Oaktree’s investment in the venture.
The combined capital commitment from Oaktree and NMEF will support the funding of $350 million in FMV equipment lease originations initially, with additional capital capacity available to continue funding the venture. This partnership combines NMEF’s established origination network and servicing capabilities in the equipment leasing space with Oaktree’s institutional capital base and investment team. This new extension of NMEF’s platform will focus on FMV leases across a wide range of essential-use equipment including construction, medical, logistics, and manufacturing assets.
“This marks a major step forward in our efforts to deliver flexible, value-driven leasing solutions to the market,” David Lee, chairman and CEO of North Mill Equipment Finance, said. “We’re excited to work with a partner like Oaktree who shares our long-term vision and brings deep understanding of asset-backed investing.”
Under the terms of the agreement, NMEF will originate and service all transactions through their national network of independent originators and vendors. North Mill will also invest alongside Oaktree in the venture.
“We’ve built a strong and scalable platform, and this partnership allows us to bring it to a broader investor base,” Lee Bergeron, senior vice president of structured products at NMEF, said. “Together with Oaktree, we’re well-positioned to meet growing demand for flexible equipment financing solutions.”
Paul Cheslock, vice president of structured products at NMEF, said. “This collaboration gives us the capacity to do more of what we do best—helping businesses acquire the equipment they need with creative and sustainable financing options.”
“We’re pleased to partner with North Mill to support the next phase of growth for their FMV platform and bring long-term value to their customers,” Rana Mitra, managing director at Oaktree, said.
“We are excited to partner with an extremely high-quality originator and servicer like North Mill as we continue generating attractive asset-backed finance exposures for our investors,” Brendan Beer, portfolio manager for Oaktree’s asset-backed finance and structured credit strategy, said.
