Midwest Mezzanine Funds

The firm names only its four Managing Directors as the senior investment decision-makers. A ten-person team executes deals, with the Managing Directors averaging more than 20 years of private-equity and lending experience and over a decade of collaboration at the firm (per the firm website). No chief investment officer is separately disclosed.

The firm originates deals nationally through relationships with private equity sponsors, independent sponsors, family offices, intermediaries, banks and professional service firms. As one of the oldest continually managed mezzanine houses in the United States, it cites repeat transactions with multiple private equity firms as a core sourcing advantage (per the firm website).

Midwest Mezzanine provides junior capital that typically includes both subordinated debt and minority equity co-investments. Its structures are designed to sit between senior secured bank debt and the sponsor's equity in a buyout or recapitalisation, often carrying equity warrants alongside the debt instrument.

The current vehicle is Midwest Mezzanine Fund VII SBIC, L.P., a $267.5 million fund licensed under the Small Business Investment Company program (per the firm, 2024). The SBIC structure allows the firm to access leverage through the SBA while maintaining its exclusive focus on lower-middle-market companies.

The firm targets US lower-middle-market companies with EBITDA above roughly $3 million (per the firm website). These are privately owned businesses, and the firm partners exclusively with financial sponsors on acquisition and recapitalisation transactions.

The firm's materials name only the sectors it actively pursues — manufacturing, distribution, and business services. It makes no mention of technology, healthcare, or growth-stage enterprise software, suggesting a deliberate avoidance of sectors dominated by revenue-multiple underwriting and fast-growth venture dynamics.

Midwest Mezzanine is an independent asset manager, not a single-family office. It raises commingled funds from external limited partners, most recently through an SBIC-licensed pooled structure. The firm does not manage a single family's wealth or operate any family-office service lines.