Stellus leads unitranche debt financing for Eskola roofing
What's the deal? Stellus Capital ManagementDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has led the syndication of unitranche senior debt financing for EskolaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a commercial roofing and waterproofing contractor backed by private equity firm Eagle Merchant PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The deal is designed to fuel Eskola's ongoing acquisition strategy and geographic expansion.
Eskola, founded in 1972 in Morristown, Tennessee, serves education, infrastructure, and healthcare customers across the southeastern US and Texas. Brothers Jon and Ben Eskola lead the company, which their father started.
Why now? Since partnering with Eagle Merchant Partners, Eskola has been on a buy-and-build path — acquiring complementary commercial roofing businesses to penetrate new markets. The fresh debt financing gives it more firepower to keep that strategy going.
"Stellus has provided us the opportunity to continue to accelerate our growth trajectory as we build a best-in-class roofing company that seeks to serve our customers on a broader scale," said Jon Eskola, chief executive officer.
What could go wrong? Roll-up strategies in fragmented industries carry integration risk. Acquiring multiple businesses quickly can strain management, dilute culture, and create operational headaches — especially in a labour-intensive trade like commercial roofing. Rising interest rates also make debt-fuelled growth more expensive.
The signal: Stellus Capital Management's role as lead arranger here underscores the growing dominance of alternative lenders in middle-market PE-backed deals, where speed and structural flexibility often trump traditional bank financing. With Eskola still at an early growth stage, the unitranche structure gives Eagle Merchant Partners a streamlined capital stack to execute a buy-and-build playbook in commercial roofing — a fragmented, essential-services sector that continues to attract PE capital precisely because of its consolidation potential and recession-resistant demand drivers.
Read more: qubemark.com
