Colford Capital (“Colford”), a holding company building a diversified and industry leading specialty finance business, announced that it has acquired substantially all the assets of Equilease Financial Services, Inc. (“Equilease”). Based in Norwalk, CT, Equilease has extensive experience originating equipment leases and loans, as well as purchasing and servicing equipment lease and loan portfolios from banks and other specialty finance companies.
Colford has created a new subsidiary, North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“North Mill EF”), expressly for the purpose of acquiring Equilease, and has made a substantial equity investment into North Mill EF, which it will use to originate new small-ticket leases through vendors, dealers and brokers and to purchase additional lease portfolios under the new North Mill EF brand name.
Gary Silverhardt, President, CEO and owner of Equilease, will become President and CEO of North Mill EF and also a minority shareholder. Importantly, the Equilease team will join North Mill EF and continue, at its current location, to provide its customers and stakeholders with the superior service for which Equilease has become known during its 55 year operating history.
Mr. Silverhardt stated, “We are enthusiastic about the Colford investment, which enables us to expand our equipment leasing origination activities and to continue acquiring equipment lease portfolios in the secondary market, leveraging our industry leading servicing and collection operating platform. We’re looking forward to becoming an integral piece of a growth-oriented organization with a strategic commitment to the specialty finance industry.”
“The acquisition of Equilease supports Colford’s strategy to build a leading, diversified specialty finance and asset management business. We are excited to inject growth capital into North Mill EF to enhance and leverage the strong origination and servicing platform Gary and his team have built,” added David C. Lee, President and CEO of Colford.
Colford is a New York City based holding company seeking to build a diversified and industry leading specialty finance and asset management business through acquisitions, strategic partnerships and new business development. In addition to North Mill Equipment Finance, Colford owns North Mill Capital, a national asset based lending and receivables factoring company based in Princeton, NJ. North Mill Capital recently acquired PrinSource Capital, a receivables factoring company based in Minneapolis, MN. North Mill Capital is a sister subsidiary of North Mill Equipment Finance and will continue to be managed by its founding CEO, Jeffrey Goldrich. Colford is majority owned by Monitor Clipper Partners, a private equity firm that targets growth-oriented businesses with strong management teams and currently manages over $2 billion in capital, with minority investments by ALDA Capital, a private financial holding company managed by Al Gordon and Dan Zwirn, and management.
Equilease has over 55 years of extensive experience originating equipment leases and loans, as well as purchasing and servicing equipment lease and loan portfolios from banks and other specialty finance companies. As a third-party servicer, the company has the capacity to handle thousands of accounts for multiple parties. Since 2002, Equilease has purchased over 30 lease and loan portfolios representing over $1 billion of asset value.