Metis Commercial Finance, a specialized commercial finance company that provides loans to lower middle-market companies, announced its formation today. Metis offers smaller borrowers a unique palette of financing structures including asset-based revolving lines of credit, term loans based on cash flow and other assets, and unitranche debt with credit facilities ranging from $1 million to $20 million.
Metis is led by Chief Executive Officer James Irwin, the founder of Meridian Healthcare Finance and MC Healthcare Finance, and Executive Vice President – Chief Credit Officer Dan O’Rourke, a founder of several specialized asset-based lending firms including Salus Capital Partners and NewAlliance Commercial Finance. Metis’s senior management team averages in excess of 20 years of experience and includes Bob Seidenberger, Managing Director - Sales and Marketing, Mike Pestrak, Senior Vice President – Underwriting, and Sarah Larson, Senior Director – Operations.
“Many lenders lack specialized industry knowledge and are facing an increasing regulatory burden, which forces many commercial borrowers in need of operating and expansion capital to rely upon commercial finance companies with limited product offerings,” says Irwin. “We have designed and built Metis from the ground up to provide a ‘big ticket’ product suite to borrowers who have thus far had very limited financing options. We bring industry expertise, including healthcare and retail lending, that generalist lenders lack. In addition to the right product suite and the right team a successful lender must have the right investor, which we are fortunate to have with Garrison Investment Group.”
“Our entrepreneurial roots allow us to understand the needs of small to medium size borrowers that are not receiving an adequate level of expertise and service from their existing lenders. For example, we have bi-coastal operations and can provide superior customer service from all time zones,” adds O’Rourke who goes on to say “We look forward to serving our customers in a variety of industries, with a full suite of lending products and flexible structures, combined with a national platform. This includes offering servicing expertise and investment capital to partner banks and financial institutions.”
John Bunting, Managing Director of Garrison Investment Group, says, “We believe that the next three to five years will provide a tremendous opportunity to build an agile, full service specialized finance company with a broad product suite staffed by a team of industry veterans. Importantly, our investment in Metis provides a valuable and complementary addition to our portfolio of lending platforms.”
Garrison Investment Group is a leading middle market credit and asset-based investor. The firm was founded in 2007 and is headquartered in New York. Garrison has approximately $3.5 billion of assets under management and a team of 75 employees (43 investment professionals). Their investment strategies focus on deploying capital in opportunities across Corporate Finance (corporate loans and select equity investments), Financial Assets (commercial & industrial loans and consumer loans), Private Equity and Real Estate. Garrison’s team of experienced professionals enables them to source and execute transactions across their multiple investing disciplines.