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

CrowdOut, a private lending syndication platform that offers profitable, middle market and lower middle market companies, served as the Administrative Agent. Encina Equipment Finance served as the Collateral Agent.

Proceeds from the multi-million-dollar term loan. 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, which are located near the prolific shale plays in the Southeast, and finance capital expenditures to increase production capacity at the sand 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.”

Backed by OFS Energy Fund, Shale Support operates an extensive mining and transload network strategically aligned with key destination terminals that serve Texas, Oklahoma, Mississippi, Louisiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania regions. Shale Support provides to operators and third-party suppliers its proprietary Delta Pearl proppant, an industry-leading proppant known for its low turbidity or cleanliness.

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