Colford Capital Holdings announced that Stellus Capital Investment Corporation has provided Colford $25 million in the form of senior secured notes. Colford plans to deploy the funds into its operating subsidiaries to support their continued growth and to facilitate future lending platform acquisitions as part of Colford’s strategy to build a diversified, industry-leading specialty finance and asset management business.

A portion of the proceeds will be used to fuel the expansion of Colford’s existing lending platforms, North Mill Capital, a leading provider of asset-based loans and invoice based factoring, and North Mill Equipment Finance, a national provider of small and middle ticket equipment financing solutions.

David C. Lee, president and CEO of Colford, stated “We are excited to partner with Stellus, who shares our enthusiasm regarding the growth potential of the Colford platform and our operating subsidiaries. This capital will allow us to continue to execute on our strategic plan and leverage our existing lending platforms while continuing to pursue acquisitions of complimentary specialty finance platforms and lease and loan portfolios.”

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 and currently manages two majority owned operating subsidiaries, North Mill Capital, a leading provider of asset-based loans and invoice based factoring based in Princeton, NJ, and North Mill Equipment Finance, a Norwalk, CT based national provider of small and middle ticket equipment financing solutions. 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.

Stellus is an externally-managed, closed-end, non-diversified management investment company that has elected to be regulated as a business development company under the Investment Company Act of 1940. The Company’s investment objective is to maximize the total return to its stockholders in the form of current income and capital appreciation by investing primarily in private middle-market companies typically those with $5.0 million to $50.0 million of EBITDAthrough first lien, second lien, unitranche and mezzanine debt financing, and corresponding equity investments.