F.N.B. Corporation announced the successful launch of F.N.B. Capital Partners, LP (FNBCP), a Small Business Investment Company (SBIC) licensed by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).  FNBCP will engage in mezzanine financing and private equity investments in middle market companies. 

FNBCP's principals include Stephen J. Gurgovits, Jr., Matthew L.T. Harnett and Tyson S. Smith, former employees of F.N.B. Capital Corporation, LLC, a wholly-owned merchant banking subsidiary of F.N.B. Corporation.  Collectively, the FNBCP team has 35 years of experience making and managing private equity and mezzanine debt investments, including the investment of over $250 million in more than 40 different companies.

The SBIC Fund will target investment opportunities of up to $10 million across a broad spectrum of industries.  FNBCP's focus will be to invest in qualifying companies to stimulate their growth and corresponding job creation.  FNBCP will invest principally in companies within the eastern United States.

In addition to anchor investor F.N.B. Corporation, the SBIC Fund's investors include five regional banks, a pension fund and several high net worth individuals.

F.N.B. Corporation, headquartered in Hermitage, Pennsylvania, is a regional diversified financial services company operating in six states and three major metropolitan areas including Pittsburgh, PA, where it holds the number three retail deposit market share, Baltimore, MD and Cleveland, OH. The Company has total assets of $12.6 billion and more than 250 banking offices throughout Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Maryland.