Peachtree Group Seizes Opportunity as Banks Retreat from Equipment Lending

ATLANTA, GA – January 07, 2026 – In a clear signal of shifting dynamics within the commercial finance sector, Peachtree Group’s newly formed Equipment Finance division announced it closed nearly $30 million in transactions during its first full quarter of operations. The division, launched in October 2025, is aggressively moving to fill a void being created by the strategic retreat of traditional banks from middle-market equipment lending.

The firm reported $29,795,000 in closed capital lease and fair market value (FMV) transactions for the fourth quarter of 2025. These deals provided essential-use equipment for a diverse range of sectors, including transportation logistics, technology infrastructure, and material handling. This strong debut is part of a broader strategy by the Atlanta-based investment firm to capitalize on what it identifies as dislocated markets, leveraging its deep expertise in private credit to serve businesses that are finding it harder to secure conventional financing.

Capitalizing on a Widening Credit Gap

The division's launch is timed to address a significant trend: the increasing reluctance of traditional banks to extend credit for equipment purchases, particularly to middle-market companies. This pullback is not an isolated phenomenon but the result of a confluence of factors, including a more conservative approach to capital management, heightened regulatory scrutiny of commercial real estate (CRE) portfolios, and a strategic de-emphasis on what many banks consider non-core business lines.

As banks face pressure to de-risk their balance sheets, particularly with concerns over the health of their CRE loans, their appetite for other forms of commercial lending has diminished. For many growing businesses, this has meant longer approval times, stricter covenants, or outright rejections for crucial equipment loans. This creates a critical financing gap for companies that rely on new machinery and technology to expand operations and remain competitive.

Peachtree Group is positioning itself as a direct solution to this challenge. “Launched just months ago, our equipment finance division has quickly demonstrated strong demand for flexible nonbank capital,” said Greg Friedman, Peachtree’s CEO and managing principal. “As traditional banks continue to retreat from equipment lending, we see a growing opportunity to provide reliable financing solutions backed by real underwriting discipline and certainty of execution.”

A Strategic Play in a Dislocated Market

For Peachtree Group, the move into equipment finance is a natural extension of a long-held investment philosophy. Founded in 2007, the vertically integrated firm has built its reputation on identifying and capitalizing on market dislocations, with a strong anchor in commercial real estate. The company has successfully overseen approximately $10.0 billion in investments by applying this strategy.

This new venture is firmly rooted in the firm's robust private credit platform, which has been a cornerstone of its success for over 15 years. With a track record spanning more than 630 credit transactions, Peachtree has demonstrated a keen ability to manage risk, boasting a mere 0.17% loss rate on over $2.3 billion in deployed credit capital. The firm’s lending activity has accelerated significantly, deploying $1.6 billion in credit in 2024 and being on pace to approach $2.5 billion for the full year 2025. This history of disciplined lending provides a powerful foundation for its expansion into a new asset class.

By proactively staffing up and raising capital ahead of the broader credit market tightening, Peachtree was prepared to scale its lending operations precisely as traditional institutions began to pull back. The equipment finance division is the latest example of this strategic foresight, designed to integrate seamlessly into the company's broader private credit ecosystem and provide another avenue for growth.

Fueling America's Industrial and Tech Backbone

The impact of this alternative financing extends directly to the foundational industries that drive the U.S. economy. The initial transactions by Peachtree’s equipment division highlight a focus on sectors with immense and growing capital needs.

In transportation and logistics, financing for assets like commercial trucks, trailers, and GPS systems is essential for companies to manage cash flow while upgrading fleets to meet modern efficiency and regulatory standards. In material handling, the demand is exploding. Driven by the relentless growth of e-commerce and the push for greater automation, the U.S. material handling equipment leasing market is projected to grow at a compound annual rate of over 15% through 2030. Financing solutions are critical for warehouses and distribution centers to afford the high upfront costs of robotics, automated sortation systems, and advanced forklifts needed to compete.

By providing tailored capital leases and FMV transactions, Peachtree enables these businesses to acquire mission-critical equipment, preserve working capital for other growth initiatives, and stay on the cutting edge of technology without being constrained by the tightening credit standards of an increasingly cautious banking sector.

Experienced Leadership at the Helm

Guiding this strategic expansion is a leadership team with decades of relevant experience. CEO Greg Friedman has over 24 years of experience in credit and equity investing, having successfully navigated multiple economic cycles. His deep background in commercial finance has been instrumental in shaping the firm's agile and opportunistic culture.

The division itself is led by Roger Johnson, Executive Vice President and a 30-year veteran of commercial lending and portfolio acquisitions. Johnson previously co-founded and built a successful equipment finance business, giving him firsthand knowledge of the market's intricacies and the needs of its clients. His expertise is crucial as the division executes its plan for aggressive but responsible growth in 2026.

“Our objective is to scale responsibly while staying focused on asset quality and long-term client relationships,” said Johnson. “This is exactly the type of market dislocation where experienced private credit platforms can step in and provide meaningful solutions.” Building on its powerful first-quarter momentum, Peachtree plans to significantly increase its origination capacity and broaden its industry coverage throughout the coming year, solidifying its role as a vital capital partner for the nation's middle-market businesses.