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NAPLES — Harvard Partners, a Naples-based investment firm founded by equipment leasing and finance industry veteran Bill Verhelle, is putting the word out: It wants to buy or invest in commercial finance firms.
The company, according to a statement, is specifically interested in companies with demonstrated experience and capable management teams that are using the latest technology in their business models. Interest is not limited to companies already in the equipment leasing and finance industry, the release adds. The firm's first equity investment this year, in conjunction with another private equity investor, involved a West Coast business lending and equipment finance firm with advanced financial technology capabilities.
Verhelle, who founded Harvard Partners in 2015, says the opportunity to buy commercial finance business stems from an industry shift, where nimble, technology-savvy companies are developing new business models, while many larger firms continue to be hamstrung by legacy operations and bureaucracy. “We believe there has never been a more exciting time for small, independent finance companies," Verhelle says in the release.
Prior to Harvard Partners, Verhelle ran Fairport, N.Y.-based First American Equipment Finance, which made the Inc. 500 list of the nation's fastest-growing companies eight times. He's currently chairman of the Equipment Leasing & Finance Foundation, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit.
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