Merit Capital Partners

Capital provider· USmeritcapital.com
Sponsors financed
14
Repeat sponsors
8
Announced deals
31
Lender and equity co-investor, observedequity
As of · the mandate; last verified Sep 26, 2026, 3 sources, 17 observations
What the rest of DFX holds on this provider
Provider type
Mezzanine · deals: 38 of 74 financing roles mezzanine or subordinated
Also on DFX
Private Equity

3 additional people, 20 additional sponsor relationships, 28 additional announced deals

Every relationship, signal and contact on this record, with the source on each.

Includes 3 days of DFX Intelligence. Then $199/month unless canceled.

Observed financing independent sponsors

14 sponsors, 30 observed deals as equity coinvest, equity provider, lender, mezzanine, capital provider, subordinated debt and equity, co owner, co sponsor: Fulton Capital (5), Aiglon Capital Management (5), Six Pillars Partners (4).

Observed financing in manufacturing (11), specialty distribution (4), business services (3), healthcare services (2), industrial services (1).

Which sponsors in their sectors has DFX not observed them beside

DFX has not observed these firms together on any transaction in our coverage. That is a statement about what DFX has read, not about the firms: a deal that was never announced, or announced without naming its capital, cannot appear here.

Coverage behind this list: 3 sponsors observed closing in your 6 sectors · 22 of your own financings read in those sectors · most recent of theirs observed Sep 9, 2026.

  • Salt Creek CapitalCAManufacturing11 deals in manufacturing, latest Sep 9, 2026
    Capital named on their deals: Cyprium Partners, HCAP Partners, LLC, NorthCoast Mezzanine, Ocean Avenue Capital Partners, L.P., White Oak Global Advisors, LLC
  • Glen Oaks CapitalNYManufacturing1 deal in manufacturing, latest Sep 9, 2026
    Capital named on their deals: Tecum Capital, First Commonwealth Bank, Five Points Capital, Inc., SharpVue Capital
  • Right Angle PartnersNYIndustrial services2 deals in industrial services, latest Sep 1, 2026
    Capital named on their deals: Align Collaborate
What do they fund, equity or debt, how much, what structures
Sectors transacted
Specialty distribution (1)
Factvertical of the acquired targets· 85%· DFX's own graph
Provider kinds
Observed sponsor backer
Factsources in which the provider appears· 100%
Capital side
Equity
Factacted as equity provider in an observed transaction· 85%· DFX's own graph
Independent sponsor friendliness
Observed
Fact49 observed sponsor transactions· 90%· DFX's own graph
What they say they fund
Control
yes
“We focus on majority ownership investments, and will consider select minority ownership investments.”
Minority stakes
yes
“We focus on majority ownership investments, and will consider select minority ownership investments.”
Founder or family owned
yes
“Enhancing management teams and helping establishing succession plans”
Add-ons
yes
“Funds one through four have been fully realized; funds five and six have been partially realized (still pursuing add-ons); and fund seven is being actively invested.”
In the firm's own words, quoted from its site, from meritcapital.com.
Announced transactions naming them
  1. Mar 25, 2026Platform acquisitionconfidence 60%
    Fletch Equity acquired Superior Roofing and Midwest Roofing (CA)
    Merit Capital Partners · Equity providerMerit Capital Partners · Lender
    The transaction was completed in partnership with Fletch Equity and the management teams of both companies.
    DFX analyst research (General-assisted, every claim URL-cited) meritcapital.com
  2. Aug 11, 2025Add onconfidence 85%
    P2G Capital acquired Solution Sources Programming (SSP) (San Jose, CA)
    Circuit Check · Capital providerMerit Capital Partners · Co sponsor
    Circuit Check, a global leader in turnkey functional test systems across medical, automotive, industrial, military/aerospace, and emerging AI applications, today announced the acquisition of Solution Sources Programming (SSP), a trusted Silicon Valley provider of integrated test and programming solutions for over 35 years.
    DFX analyst research (General-assisted, every claim URL-cited) prnewswire.com
  3. Mar 4, 2025Minority investmentconfidence 90%
    Fulton Capital acquired Carl's Place, LLC (Milton, WI)
    Merit Capital Partners · Equity providerMerit Capital Partners · Lender
    Merit Capital Partners and Fulton Capital invest in Carl's Place alongside founder Carl Markestad.
    DFX analyst research (General-assisted, every claim URL-cited) meritcapital.com
Sponsors this provider has financed

14 sponsors observed, 8 of them more than once.

Who works here
  • John J. DarguzasManaging Director with a background on Antares Capital's Sponsor Finance Group underwriting team, giving him direct sponsor-finance underwriting experience at Merit.Managing Director meritcapital.com
  • Joseph A. PolaneczkyManaging Director with a background in GE Antares Capital's Sponsor Finance Group on private-equity-sponsored transactions, direct sponsor-finance experience relevant to independent sponsor coverage at Merit.Managing Director meritcapital.com
  • Terrance M. ShippCo-founding Managing Director of Merit's Fund I general partner, a senior decision owner since 1991.Managing Director meritcapital.com
Who to call
the organisation, the role and the published line, with the filing or website that published it; revealed to signed-in accounts
The firm's published line
Revealable: 1 business phone (the firm's own page) · as of 2026-09-24
  • John J. Darguzas
    Managing Director · Revealable: 1 business phone (the firm's own page), 1 professional profile (the firm's own page), 1 work email (the firm's own page)
  • Joseph A. Polaneczky
    Managing Director · Revealable: 1 business phone (the firm's own page), 1 professional profile (the firm's own page), 1 work email (the firm's own page)
  • Terrance M. Shipp
    Managing Director · Revealable: 1 business phone (the firm's own page), 1 professional profile (the firm's own page), 1 work email (the firm's own page)

Who to call is the organisation, the person's role and the line they published themselves: a business phone, office address, website or profile link from Form ADV, Form 13F or their own website, with that source named on every value. The counts above are what a reveal returns; a personal email is rarely published, so most reveals are the firm's line. Never data bought from a provider, never anything personal. Reveals by plan

Merit Capital Partners is a private equity firm uniquely positioned to provide flexible capital solutions.

In the firm's own words.
Evidence
FactValueClassEffectiveSource
Backs independent sponsorsstatedFactIndependent sponsor firm websites (the firm's own contact and team pages) no URL
DescriptionFactIndependent sponsor firm websites (the firm's own contact and team pages) no URL
Entity kindUnknown investment entityInference2026-09-26DFX model output (scores, estimates, matches) no URL
Entity kindUnknown investment entityInference2026-09-13DFX model output (scores, estimates, matches) no URL
Entity kindIndependent sponsor firmInference2026-09-13DFX model output (scores, estimates, matches) no URL
Investment thesisFactIndependent sponsor firm websites (the firm's own contact and team pages) no URL
Stated buy boxFactIndependent sponsor firm websites (the firm's own contact and team pages) no URL
WebsiteFactDFX analyst research (General-assisted, every claim URL-cited) no URL

5 further observations are on the record behind these, each with its own source and date. Ask and we will send the lot.

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