Hudson Ferry Capital, a New York-based private equity firm, has received its license from the Small Business Administration to operate Hudson Ferry Capital II as a small business investment company.

Hudson Ferry Capital II is now a USD100m small business investment company focused on making buy-in investments in established, family-owned US businesses.

Hudson Ferry defines "buy-ins" as control investments with existing managers that retain substantial ownership positions. This creates a partnership with a common goal to transform a small or regional business into a large, integrated enterprise.

"The availability of capital for small to mid-sized companies has significantly declined as bank mergers, the lack of corporate lending and the migration of private equity firms up-market has reduced the number of capital sources. As an SBIC focused on the lower end of the middle market, Hudson Ferry Capital is well positioned to be a preferred capital partner," says Timothy Ross, a Hudson Ferry Capital partner.

Hudson Ferry Capital II has made two portfolio investments: Contrax Furnishings and Mason Dixon Energy, both of which closed in March 2010.

The small business investment company programme is a public/private partnership that has provided in excess of USD57bn in financing to more than 107,000 small US companies since the programme's creation in 1958.