Tree Line Capital Partners completed its first closing on Tree Line Direct Lending, LP, with the addition of a commitment from the University of Texas Investment Management Company (“UTIMCO”) alongside capital from funds managed by Stone Point Capital.  Led by Founding Partners Tom Quimby and Jon Schroeder, Tree Line focuses on direct lending to small and medium sized businesses in North America with EBITDA of $2 million to $20 million in transactions up to $100 million.   

Over the past 20 years, commercial bank consolidation has resulted in reduced participation by traditional financing sources in the business loan markets. This has hit the lower middle market especially hard.  Billions of dollars of lending capacity has exited this sector, despite a large supply of borrowers in need of private capital to finance growth.  Further, much of the capital raised in new direct lending vehicles has been focused on the middle market, targeting borrowers with EBITDA greater than $20 million.  Tree Line was formed to address the needs of smaller companies in the lower middle market and offers term loans to qualified businesses that would otherwise lack committed financing partners.

“We are pleased to have UTIMCO join the Tree Line platform as an additional founding investor alongside Stone Point Capital.  UTIMCO’s breadth and depth provides Tree Line with an additional edge as we seek to grow our business,” said Tom Quimby, Managing Partner at Tree Line.  “Partnering with top tier firms like Stone Point and UTIMCO positions Tree Line with the long-term support and stability that is required for a direct lender to be successful in today’s market.  This will further enable us to reliably deliver tailored credit solutions to our borrowers.”

Tree Line is a San Francisco-based asset management firm focused on direct lending to the lower middle market. Tree Line’s principals have extensive asset management experience which provides their partners with access to broad market relationships, deal structuring expertise, and rigorous underwriting and portfolio management. Tree Line has been actively lending since its launch in October 2014, having closed five transactions totaling $56 million.