Former Lendio Executive Leaves for Enova/The Business Backer
August 8, 2018
Enova announced last week that Jim Granat has joined the company as its Head of Small Business Financing. This will include oversight of Enova’s small business brands: Headway Capital, which provides lines of credit to small business, and The Business Backer, which provides merchant cash advances, among other products.
Enova acquired The Business Backer in 2015 for $27 million and retained its president and co-founder, Jim Salters – until recently. An Enova representative confirmed that Salters no longer works at the company. As Head of Small Business Financing, Granat will be assuming at least part of Salters’ role. An Enova representative also said that Granat will be relocating from the Salt Lake City area to Chicago, where Enova has its headquarters.
Granat comes to Enova as the departing president of Lendio, a sizable funder that has been growing and establishing new regional offices throughout the U.S. Prior to his role as Lendio President, just one step below co-founder and CEO Brock Blake, Granat was Chief Operating Officer at Lendio as of 2014.
Enova is a global financial products company. The Business Backer and Headway Capital operate under the Enova umbrella, but as distinct brands. In addition to merchant cash advance, The Business Backer offers term loans from $5,000 to $350,000, SBA loans, factoring, equipment financing, commercial real loans up to $75 million and business lines of credit up to $150,000.
Enova started in 2003 as Check Giant LLC. After several name changes and acquisitions, the company now has more than 1,100 employees and operates internationally. The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2014 and trades as ENVA.
Enova’s Small Business Financing Originations Drop
July 30, 2018Enova CEO David Fisher revealed last week that their small business financing operations had declined. “Our small business financing portfolio represented 8% of our total loan book at the end of Q2,” Fisher said on the July 26th earnings call. “We are remaining cautious on this space as the market rationalizes. As a result, our loan portfolio contracted 10% year-over-year and originations were down 23% year-over-year.”
Enova owns two small business financing subsidiaries, Headway Capital and The Business Backer.
While no official announcement has been made, Jim Salters, founder of The Business Backer, updated his LinkedIn profile to reflect that as of last month, he is no longer CEO of the company.
Enova’s TBB Did $15M in Merchant Cash Advance Revenue in 2017
March 12, 2018International online lending conglomerate, Enova, generated $843.7 million in revenue last year, according to their recent annual report. More than $15 million came from merchant cash advances (MCAs) made through The Business Backer (TBB), a small business financing company they acquired in 2015. That’s down from $18.6 million in MCA revenue generated in 2016.
Though MCA revenue may be down, TBB began offering an installment small business loan product in 2017. They’re available in 10 states, according to the company.
Enova refers to MCAs as RPAs in their reports, short for Receivable Purchase Agreements. “Small businesses receive funds in exchange for a portion of the business’s future receivables at an agreed upon discount,” they state.”A small business customer who enters into a RPA commits to delivering a percentage of its receivables through ACH or wire debits or by splitting credit card receipts until all purchased receivables are delivered.” That is a textbook explanation of MCAs.
Their average “RPA” customer averages $1.5 million in annual sales and has 10 years of operating history.
Scott Cornelis Joins Enova International as Treasurer
September 28, 2017Scott Cornelis, the head of capital markets at BorrowersFirst, has become the Treasurer at Enova International, according to LinkedIn.
BorrowersFirst is an online consumer lender that raised a $100 million senior debt commitment from Waterfall Asset Management earlier this year.
Enova is a publicly traded online lending company that owns The Business Backer and Headway Capital.
Prior to BorrowersFirst, Cornelis was an executive director at JPMorgan’s investment bank.
Steve Siler Joins NMEF as Chief Technology Officer
September 5, 2025September 8, 2025 | NORWALK, CT – North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“NMEF”), a leading independent commercial equipment lender and lessor headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Siler as Chief Technology Officer.
Steve brings nearly 20 years of experience driving technology transformation across asset-backed finance, private credit, and M&A integration. In his new role, he will lead NMEF’s digital strategy and oversee all technology operations. From 2018 to 2024, Steve served as CTO at Stonebriar Commercial Finance and Head of Technology at Eldridge, where he led enterprise-wide technology strategy, streamlined operations through automation, and integrated systems across a diverse portfolio.
“We are thrilled to welcome Steve to the team,” said Tom Lyle, Chief Operating Officer of NMEF. “His entrepreneurial mindset and proven ability to scale platforms make him exceptionally well-suited to guide our next chapter of growth. Under Steve’s leadership, we will continue to enhance our offerings for broker and vendor partners and pursue strategic acquisitions of lease and loan portfolios.”
Steve’s career in financial services started with AIG Asset Management, where he developed a contract and asset management platform. At William Blair, he advanced data capture and introduced emerging technologies such as machine learning across investment banking, wealth advisory, and capital markets. Most recently, he has advised startups focused on modernizing private credit infrastructure and improving data accessibility.
About North Mill Equipment Finance
NMEF is a national, premier lender who works with third-party referral (TPR) sources to finance small to mid-ticket equipment commercial leases and loans ranging from $15,000 to $3,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 for investment grade opportunities. NMEF accepts A – C credit qualities and finances transactions for many asset categories including but not limited to medical, construction, franchise, technology, vocational, manufacturing, renovation, janitorial and material handling equipment. NMEF is majority owned by an affiliate of InterVest Capital Partners. The company’s headquarters are in Norwalk, CT, with regional offices in Irvine, CA, Voorhees NJ, and Murray, UT. For more information, visit www.nmef.com. One of NMEF’s controlled affiliates, BriteCap Financial LLC, is a leading non-bank lender providing small businesses with fast, convenient financing alternatives such as working capital loans since 2003 from its main office in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.britecap.com.
NMEF Achieves Largest Quarter and First Half in Company History
July 1, 2025[July 2, 2025, NORWALK, CT] – North Mill Equipment Finance, LLC (“NMEF”), a leading commercial equipment lessor located in Norwalk, Connecticut, today announced that it achieved the largest quarterly and first half origination volumes in its history. Originations hit a record $277 million in the second quarter, bringing first half 2025 production to an unprecedented $520 million, an increase of over 100% versus first half 2024. Including the acquisition of Pawnee’s assets that went onto NMEF’s balance sheet on April 1, total origination volume for the second quarter was $607 million and for the first half of 2025 was $850 million.
For the first half of 2025, NMEF also reported a meaningful increase in credit quality, evidenced by a higher weighted average FICO of 745. The largest equipment categories were medical (23%), franchise (13%), construction (12%), and IT (8%). Long haul trucks comprised less than 2% of volume. Corporation only transactions represented over 25% of volume.
David Lee, Chairman and CEO of NMEF, commented, “Reaching these new highs is a direct result of executing our strategy to diversify and scale. We’ve invested heavily in building a platform that supports more sophisticated transactions, and it’s gratifying to see that translate into stronger credit profiles, larger deals and further industry diversification. Moreover, a majority of our dollar volume now consists of mid-ticket, fully underwritten transactions.”
Mark Bonanno, President and Chief Revenue Officer, added, “Our record growth is made possible by the trusted long-term relationships with both our NMEF brokers and our Taycor vendor partners. By staying agile and solution-oriented, we’re able to meet their evolving needs and help drive mutual growth. We’re excited to keep this momentum going into the second half of the year.”
Tom Lyle, EVP and COO, stated, “In less than two years NMEF has doubled from $1 billion to $2 billion in assets under management. The internal restructuring of our operations, reporting lines, and integration of Pawnee’s talented employee base, have NMEF well positioned to continue scaling to our goal of $5 billion by the end of the decade.”
About North Mill Equipment Finance (NMEF)
NMEF is a national, premier lender who works with third-party referral (TPR) sources to finance small to mid-ticket equipment commercial leases and loans ranging from $15,000 to $3,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 for investment grade opportunities. NMEF accepts A – C credit qualities and finances transactions for many asset categories including but not limited to medical, construction, franchise, technology, vocational, manufacturing, renovation, janitorial and material handling equipment. NMEF is majority owned by an affiliate of InterVest Capital Partners. The company’s headquarters are in Norwalk, CT, with regional offices in Irvine, CA, Voorhees NJ, and Murray, UT. For more information, visit www.nmef.com. One of NMEF’s controlled affiliates, BriteCap Financial LLC, is a leading non-bank lender providing small businesses with fast, convenient financing alternatives such as working capital loans since 2003 from its main office in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.britecap.com.
NMEF Announces Strategic Joint Venture With Oaktree to Accelerate Growth in FMV Leasing Platform
June 10, 2025JUNE 10, 2025, NORWALK, CT – North Mill Equipment Finance, LLC (“NMEF” or “North Mill”), a leading commercial equipment lessor located in Norwalk, Connecticut, today announced a new partnership with funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. (“Oaktree”), a global investment firm with deep expertise in credit and asset-backed finance. The collaboration launches a joint venture designed to grow NMEF’s fair market value (FMV) equipment leasing platform, alongside Oaktree’s investment in the venture.
The combined capital commitment from Oaktree and NMEF will support the funding of $350 million in FMV equipment lease originations initially, with additional capital capacity available to continue funding the venture.
This partnership combines NMEF’s established origination network and servicing capabilities in the equipment leasing space with Oaktree’s institutional capital base and investment team. This new extension of NMEF’s platform will focus on FMV leases across a wide range of essential-use equipment including construction, medical, logistics, and manufacturing assets.
“This marks a major step forward in our efforts to deliver flexible, value-driven leasing solutions to the market,” said David Lee, Chairman and CEO of North Mill Equipment Finance. “We’re excited to work with a partner like Oaktree who shares our long-term vision and brings deep understanding of asset-backed investing.”
Under the terms of the agreement, NMEF will originate and service all transactions through their national network of independent originators and vendors. North Mill will also invest alongside Oaktree in the venture.
“We’ve built a strong and scalable platform, and this partnership allows us to bring it to a broader investor base,” said Lee Bergeron, Senior Vice President of Structured Products at NMEF. “Together with Oaktree, we’re well-positioned to meet growing demand for flexible equipment financing solutions.”
Paul Cheslock, Vice President of Structured Products at NMEF, added, “This collaboration gives us the capacity to do more of what we do best—helping businesses acquire the equipment they need with creative and sustainable financing options.”
From Oaktree’s perspective, the partnership is a natural fit with their investment strategy. “We’re pleased to partner with North Mill to support the next phase of growth for their FMV platform and bring long-term value to their customers,” said Rana Mitra, Managing Director at Oaktree. “We are excited to partner with an extremely high-quality originator and servicer like North Mill as we continue generating attractive asset-backed finance exposures for our investors,” said Brendan Beer, Portfolio Manager for Oaktree’s Asset-Backed Finance and Structured Credit strategy.
About North Mill Equipment Finance (NMEF)
NMEF is a national, premier lender who works with third-party referral (TPR) sources to finance small to mid-ticket equipment commercial leases and loans ranging from $15,000 to $3,000,000 and up to $5,000,000 for investment grade opportunities. NMEF accepts A – C credit qualities and finances transactions for many asset categories including but not limited to medical, construction, franchise, technology, vocational, manufacturing, renovation, janitorial and material handling equipment. NMEF is majority owned by an affiliate of InterVest Capital Partners. The company’s headquarters are in Norwalk, CT, with regional offices in Irvine, CA, Voorhees NJ, and Murray, UT. For more information, visit www.nmef.com. One of NMEF’s controlled affiliates, BriteCap Financial LLC, is a leading non-bank lender providing small businesses with fast, convenient financing alternatives such as working capital loans since 2003 from its main office in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.britecap.com.
About Oaktree
Oaktree is a leader among global investment managers specializing in alternative investments, with $203 billion in assets under management as of March 31, 2025. The firm emphasizes an opportunistic, value-oriented, and risk-controlled approach to investments in credit, equity, and real estate. The firm has more than 1,200 employees and offices in 25 cities worldwide. For additional information, please visit www.oaktreecapital.com.
NMEF Acquires Pawnee, Marking a Significant Milestone of Growth and Industry Leadership
April 1, 2025
April 1, 2025, NORWALK, CT – North Mill Equipment Finance LLC (“NMEF”), a leading independent commercial equipment lender and lessor headquartered in Norwalk, Connecticut, is pleased to announce that it has closed on its acquisition of Pawnee Leasing Corporation and certain other assets (“Pawnee”) from an affiliate of Chesswood Group Limited (“Chesswood”) pursuant to final approval from the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware as a result of a court-supervised Sale and Investment Solicitation Process initiated in Canada in December 2024. NMEF acquired substantially all of Pawnee’s assets, while certain excluded assets and liabilities were transferred to a newly formed entity, which will remain subject to Canadian and U.S. restructuring proceedings.
With the addition of the Pawnee portfolio of leases and loans, NMEF’s total gross receivables under management now exceed $2 billion, marking a significant milestone in the company’s growth trajectory. The Pawnee and Tandem brand names will be retired, and no new originations will occur under Pawnee’s former referral partner programs. The servicing of Pawnee’s managed investment partnerships has been transferred to NMEF. More than half of Pawnee’s former employees are joining NMEF and will be located mostly in Ft. Collins, Colorado. These highly skilled professionals—primarily in Collections, Legal Recoveries, Data Analytics, Customer Service, and Accounting—demonstrated exceptional resilience and dedication throughout a challenging transition.
“We are thrilled to finally complete the acquisition of Pawnee after years of discussions with Chesswood,” said David C. Lee, Chairman and CEO of NMEF. “Pawnee has been in business for over 40 years and was the gold standard for referral partner-based small-ticket equipment financing—so much so that we modeled many aspects of NMEF’s business strategy around Pawnee following our recapitalization in 2018. Through no fault of Pawnee’s first-rate management team, the company endured financial distress when Chesswood filed for creditor protection in Canada and Delaware in late 2024, ultimately resulting in the court- sanctioned sale to NMEF.”
“The acquisition of Pawnee is immediately accretive to NMEF,” said Mark Bonanno, President and Chief Revenue Officer of NMEF. “We successfully refinanced approximately 50% of Pawnee’s assets at significantly improved cost of funds and leverage levels, driving an attractive return on equity for our stakeholders.”
“We went from court approval to closing in just over three weeks which was only made possible by the incredible collaboration between our companies,” said Tom Lyle, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. “I couldn’t be more impressed by how our two teams, aligned around a common goal, came together and delivered. I have the highest respect for the former Pawnee team and am excited to welcome them into the NMEF family – stronger together.”
Truist Securities, Inc. acted as exclusive U.S. financial advisor to NMEF, while Oaklins Canada served as NMEF’s Canadian financial advisor. Legal counsel for NMEF was provided by Moore & Van Allen (U.S.) and Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP (Canada). FTI Consulting Canada Inc. served as the court-appointed Monitor of Chesswood, including Pawnee. Legal counsel for the Monitor was provided by Osler Hoskin and Harcourt LLP (Canada), Alston & Bird LLP (U.S.), and Young Conaway Stargatt & Taylor LLP (Delaware).
About NMEF
NMEF originates and services small to mid-ticket equipment leases and loans, ranging from $15,000 and to $5,000,000, for many diversified industry segments including the construction, transportation, vocational, medical, manufacturing, technology, franchise, renovation, janitorial and material handling industries. NMEF is majority-owned by an affiliate of InterVest Capital Partners. The company’s headquarters are in Norwalk, CT, with regional offices in Irvine, CA, Ft. Collins, CO, Voorhees NJ, Murray, UT, and Montego Bay, Jamaica. For more information, visit www.nmef.com. Taycor Financial operates as an independent division of NMEF, with a focus on developing direct and vendor origination programs. For more information, visit www.taycor.com. One of NMEF’s controlled affiliates, BriteCap Financial LLC, is a leading non-bank lender providing small businesses with fast, convenient financing alternatives such as working capital loans from its main office in Las Vegas, NV. For more information, visit www.britecap.com.
