Centre Lane Looks to Raise $250 Mln Pool

Fundraising is hard, but that’s not stopping Centre Lane Partners.

New York-based Centre Lane, a special situations lower-middle market group, is currently marketing for its latest fund, two sources say. One person pegged the pool at $250 million.

Capstone Partners is the placement agent.

Centre Lane is the former ZM Equity Partners, which manages a total of $500 million. Last year, several execs from Monomoy Capital Partners–including VPs Mayank Singh and Nathan Richey as well as operating partner David Kreilein–left to join Centre Lane. The PE firm typically invests from $5 million to $50 million per deal, according to its website.

It’s unclear what step in the fundraising process Centre Lane is at but smaller, middle market firms are in vogue with LPs several sources say. Mega buyouts are out.

“Whatever issues there are in the credit markets are less magnified in the middle market,” a person says.

Also, inefficient sales processes at the lower end of the middle market means that prices should be lower and better for investors, another source adds.

Officials for Centre Lane couldn’t be reached for comment.