PPM America Capital Partners, LLC

What is PPM America Capital Partners, LLC?

PPM America Capital Partners, LLC, operating under the name Cephas Capital, is an investment fund based in Pittsford, New York. Since their founding in July of 1997, they have supported over 65 small businesses across Upstate New York.

With investments exceeding $115 million, they have contributed significantly to the growth of businesses, facilitated recapitalizations, and assisted in buy-outs by new ownership teams.

Their funding has materially benefitted the local economy, with funded businesses employing more than 6,600 workers and adding nearly $1 billion to the annual economic output of the region. Cephas Capital primarily specializes in subordinated debt investments, with their third fund, Cephas Capital Partners III, LP, being a licensed Small Business Investment Company (SBIC), which was approved by the SBA in September 2020.

The partners have committed $15 million of private capital to this fund. The SBIC license allows them to access SBA leverage, maxing out their total funding capacity at $45 million.

The fund specializes in equity and mezzanine investments, and it targets investment opportunities within specific industries such as Software, IT and TMT, BioTech, Hardware Manufacturing, and Medical Devices & Hospital Services. Their investment range is between $500,000 and $3,000,000. The specialties of Cephas Capital include Expansion, MBO/LBO, Acquisition, Recapitalization, and Restructuring.

Their Limited Partner investor group includes financial institutions like Canandaigua National Bank, Tompkins Trust Company, and S&T Bank, among others. Cephas Capital aims to offer creative financial solutions for needs that cannot be fully met by traditional banking institutions, focusing on a collaborative and innovative approach to investment.