Wells Fargo Deepens Private Equity Lending Push With New Team

Wells Fargo & Co. — nearly two years after starting a venture with Centerbridge Partners — is building out another new hook to the bank’s lending machine: offering loans to smaller private equity shops.

The bank has formed a mid-cap sponsor group in its commercial banking business, led by Tucker Sampson, the managing director spearheading the initiative who joined the firm last year from Bank of America Corp.