NMEF Completes $502 Million Acquisition of Midland Equipment Finance Portfolio

December 3, 2025 | NORWALK, CT – North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“NMEF”), a leading independent commercial equipment lender and lessor headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition of substantially all of the equipment finance portfolio of Midland States Bancorp, Inc. (“Midland”) (Nasdaq: MSBI).

With the addition of the Midland portfolio, NMEF continues to expand its scale and diversification across the equipment finance market, bringing total gross receivables under management to nearly $3 billion. NMEF partnered with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”) for this transaction, which underscores the strong institutional demand for high-performing commercial finance assets originated and managed by NMEF. NMEF has partnered with Orion First, a Concord company, to service the Midland portfolio, ensuring continuity and excellence for customers.

“This transaction marks a strategic success for all parties and underscores NMEF’s strength in sourcing, structuring, and executing complex transactions that deliver meaningful value to our stakeholders.” said David C. Lee, Chairman and CEO of NMEF. “Completing the acquisitions of both the Midland portfolio and Pawnee in 2025 is a remarkable accomplishment—either one alone would have made this an exceptional year.”

“The Midland portfolio acquisition and institutional funding partnerships with the likes of Oaktree further demonstrate our disciplined approach to capital deployment and portfolio management,” said Mark Bonanno, President and Chief Revenue Officer of NMEF. “By combining the Midland portfolio with our established funding channels, we were able to unlock significant economic value through both gain-on-sale income and recurring servicing revenue.”
“The coordination between our team and Oaktree was exceptional,” said Tom Lyle, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “This was a highly structured transaction that required speed, trust, and precision. We are proud of the collaborative effort that brought it to a successful close and look forward to welcoming those former Midland employees who are joining the NMEF family.”

From Oaktree’s perspective, the partnership is a natural fit with their investment strategy. “We’re pleased to partner with NMEF to support the next phase of growth for their FMV platform and bring long-term value to their customers,” said Rana Mitra, Managing Director at Oaktree. “We are excited to partner with an extremely high-quality originator and servicer like NMEF as we continue generating attractive asset-backed finance exposures for our investors,” said Brendan Beer, Portfolio Manager for Oaktree’s Asset-Backed Finance and Structured Credit strategy.

Stephens Inc. served as financial advisor to Midland. Macquarie Capital served as financial advisor to NMEF on its partnership with Oaktree for this transaction. Truist Bank and Deutsche Bank AG, New York Branch provided debt financing to the Oaktree funds. Barack Ferrazzano Kirschbaum & Nagelberg LLP served as legal counsel to Midland, Moore & Van Allen PLLC served as legal counsel to NMEF, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP served as legal counsel for Oaktree, and Morgan Lewis and Bockius LLP served as legal counsel for the banks.

About NMEF
NMEF is a premier lender working with third-party referral (TPR) sources to finance small to mid-ticket equipment commercial leases and loans ranging from $15,000 to $3,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 for investment grade opportunities. NMEF accepts A – C credit qualities and finances transactions for many asset categories, including medical, construction, franchise, technology, vocational, manufacturing, and material handling equipment. NMEF is majority owned by an affiliate of InterVest Capital Partners and is headquartered in Norwalk, CT, with regional offices in Irvine, CA, Fort Collins, CO, Plymouth, MN, Voorhees NJ, and Murray, UT. One of NMEF’s controlled affiliates, BriteCap Financial LLC, is a leading non-bank lender providing small businesses with fast, convenient financing alternatives such as working capital loans since 2003 from its main office in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.nmef.com and www.britecap.com.

About Oaktree
Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $203 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented, and risk-controlled approach to investments in credit, equity, and real estate. The firm has more than 1,200 employees and offices in 25 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit www.oaktreecapital.com.