
Monroe Capital Supports Tilia Holdings' Acquisition of Caputo Cheese
Founded in 1978 and headquartered in Melrose Park, IL, Caputo is a value-added processor of high-quality Italian cheeses, including hard cheeses and fresh, soft cheeses, primarily serving the foodservice and food manufacturing sectors. Caputo provides customized aging, flavor formulation, blending and packaging services to a loyal base of blue-chip customers established through their dedication to quality, flavor, and customer service.
About Monroe Capital
Monroe Capital LLC ('Monroe') is a premier asset management firm specializing in private credit markets across various strategies, including direct lending, technology finance, venture debt, alternative credit solutions, structured credit, real estate and equity. Since 2004, the firm has been successfully providing capital solutions to clients in the U.S. and Canada. Monroe prides itself on being a value-added and user-friendly partner to business owners, management, and both private equity and independent sponsors. Monroe's platform offers a wide variety of investment products for both institutional and high net worth investors with a focus on generating high quality 'alpha' returns irrespective of business or economic cycles. The firm is headquartered in Chicago and has 11 locations throughout the United States, Asia and Australia.
Monroe has been recognized by both its peers and investors with various awards including Private Debt Investor as the 2024 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Year, Americas and 2023 Lower Mid-Market Lender of the Decade; Inc.'s 2024 Founder-Friendly Investors List; Global M&A Network as the 2023 Lower Mid-Markets Lender of the Year, U.S.A.; DealCatalyst as the 2022 Best CLO Manager of the Year; Korean Economic Daily as the 2022 Best Performance in Private Debt – Mid Cap; Creditflux as the 2021 Best U.S. Direct Lending Fund; and Pension Bridge as the 2020 Private Credit Strategy of the Year. For more information and important disclaimers, please visit www.monroecap.com.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Bloomberg
an hour ago
- Bloomberg
Italian Rocket Maker Avio Seeks New Space Launches in Virginia
Italian rocket maker Avio SpA is in talks with the US government to conduct space launches from Wallops Island in Virginia, according to people familiar with the matter. The company has discussed the possibility with officials from the State Department, Commerce Department and Federal Aviation Administration, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the talks are private. If approved, the company would likely invest in new manufacturing sites and space ports in the US — a stipulation of the Trump administration, they said.


The Hill
3 hours ago
- The Hill
Is Giorgia Meloni the ‘Iron Lady' for the Trump era?
In the twilight of the Cold War, the West's resurgence was defined by the extraordinary partnership between President Ronald Reagan, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Pope John Paul II. Their alliance — grounded in a shared vision of political freedom, faith and economic liberty — reshaped the world. Today, as President Trump works to remake America's place in the world and Pope Leo launches his papacy with strong calls for human dignity in the AI era, one wonders who in Europe can rise to the moment as Thatcher once did. The answer, increasingly, seems to be Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni. The 2020s are witnessing the rise of a new transatlantic alliance in which Meloni is poised to play the pivotal European role. As the continent's political center struggles with fragmentation and fatigue, Meloni has emerged not just as a survivor, but as the most powerful person in Europe, a bridge between Washington and Brussels and the architect of a new conservative order. Why does Meloni matter now? Recall what made the Thatcher-Reagan partnership so exceptional. Thatcher was not Reagan's sidekick but his intellectual peer and sometimes his challenger. Both leaders were outsiders who stormed the establishment, preaching the virtues of free enterprise and national renewal. Their rapport was legendary, rooted in mutual respect, frequent communication and a willingness to push each other toward bolder action. Thatcher's influence was felt not only in her steadfast support for Reagan's confrontation with the Soviet Union but also in her ability to shape his thinking. Their partnership was not frictionless; disagreements over the Falklands, Grenada and economic policy occasionally flared, but their unity was a force multiplier for the Western world. Fast forward to 2025, and Europe is searching for a new Thatcher — a leader with the vision, resolve and political skill to partner with an assertive America. Enter Meloni, Italy's first female prime minister. Meloni's rise is Thatcherite in its improbability. Once dismissed as a neo-fascist firebrand, she has transformed her Brothers of Italy party from the fringes to the mainstream, presiding over a stable government in a country known for its political chaos. Her coalition dominates Italian politics, and her approval ratings have remained robust even as she pursues controversial reforms. What sets Meloni apart, however, is her growing stature on the world stage. She has become the European leader most closely aligned with Trump, earning his praise and trust. She was the only EU head of government invited to Trump's 2025 inauguration — a symbolic nod to her emerging role as the continent's conservative standard-bearer. The parallels with the Reagan-Thatcher era are striking. Like Thatcher, Meloni is a conviction politician with a talent for coalition-building and a knack for bending events to her will. She has used her position to shift the European debate on migration, security and sovereignty — championing policies that have been adopted, in some form, by Brussels and emulated by other European leaders. Meloni's diplomatic skills have also been on display in her dealings with Washington and Brussels. She has managed to maintain Italy's support for Ukraine and NATO while also cultivating ties with Trump's inner circle and other right-wing populists. Her ability to bridge the gap between an increasingly nationalist America and a fragmented Europe is reminiscent of Thatcher's role as the indispensable transatlantic interlocutor. Of course, the analogy is not perfect. Meloni's Italy is not the U.K. of the 1980s, and today's geopolitical landscape is more multipolar. Thatcher's Britain was a nuclear power and America's closest ally. Meloni's Italy, while influential, does not command the same global clout. Europe today is more fractured, and the threats it faces — migration, energy insecurity, technological disruption — are different from the existential menace of Soviet communism. Yet Meloni's impact is undeniable. She has demonstrated that European leaders can still shape the global agenda, provided they combine ideological clarity with political pragmatism. Like Thatcher, Meloni is willing to challenge orthodoxy and take risks, even at the cost of controversy. As Trump seeks to recast America's role in the world, he needs a European partner who is more than a cheerleader — someone who can match him in vision and tenacity. Meloni, with her blend of conviction, charisma and strategic sense, is uniquely positioned to play that part. The Reagan-Thatcher-John Paul II alliance changed the course of history. Whether Meloni and Trump can forge a partnership of similar consequence remains to be seen. But as Europe's new power broker, Meloni has already shown she is ready to step onto the world stage — and perhaps, like Thatcher before her, help shape the destiny of the West.


Eater
4 hours ago
- Eater
Dimo's Expands Orbit with Grandeur, Gestalt, and Gooey Cheese
The space on Burnside that was once home to Burnside Brewing (a touchstone of East Burnside's beer boom in the 2010s) more recently served as the production facility for Fracture Brewing. In summer 2025, it looks quite different. Though the oversized, black grain silo still towers over the parking lot outside, the brew tanks and all the hoses within are long gone, and that tall tower now bears small white letters that spell 'Dimo's.' Inside, there's a full bar, a bakery display case stocked with breads, pizza, and pastries, a small market nook with dry and refrigerated goods ranging from wines to salts, and a spacious dining room with no shortage of chairs, benches, and tables. Dimo's Italian Specialties opened its doors on East Burnside Street officially on July 6. But here's the rub: owner Doug Miriello didn't need another restaurant. The Connecticut boy who cut his teeth cooking in Los Angeles at Gjelina and Gjusta before settling into Portland had a full plate already: successful New Haven-style pizza shop Dimo's Apizza next door and two kids at home under six. But something about the space — and the opportunity to do more, in one place — struck him when Fracture ceased operations in 2024. Dimo's Italian Specialties is right next door to Dimo's Apizza. Ron Scott 'I want this to be my home,' he says. 'I don't want to do anything else. I want this to be it.' When the reservation-only supper club gets into full swing, the kitchen shifts from high-end Italian bar menu to full dinner service. Four pastas, including gnocchi dressed in lamb-tomato ragu and lasagna verde Bolognese composed of veal, pork, beef, and house-cured salumi will rotate through the lineup. Whole branzino and pollo al mattone are also on the table as options for these limited menus, and Dimo's Italian Specialities expects to complete two dinner services on those evenings. The cocktails fit the format as well: the caprese martini, for example, angles at antipasto. It's built on burrata whey, tomato water, and micro-basil clippings plucked from the kitchen's prep station. So he decided to make this new Dimo's work. Remaking the former brewspace into a full restaurant, bar, bakery, deli market, plus a thrice-weekly supper club was no modest mission. But Miriello isn't interested in dwelling on the challenges and difficulties he faced in the nine months of construction and remodeling. 'It wasn't easy to get where we are now, that's for sure,' he explains. Miriello's newest business model may sound multi-faceted, even scattershot: a multi-use space that flips from sandwich counter to cocktail bar to romantic dinner venue, from cocktail bar to boutique grocer. It sounds like the sort of thing enthusiastic young business partners might conjure. Yet each slice of it — whether focaccia or sicilian square — draws from a subject in focus: a former kitchen, a childhood memory, a family recipe. If those stay clearly in view, the result could be a restaurant with a true gestalt. 'I want to be your… whatever you want us to be,' Miriello says. 'I think you can come here and get a sandwich and then come back at night and have a drink, maybe a tartare, and just have a totally different experience.' That experience may well hinge on the strength of Miriello's team. General manager Herb Apon, previously of Loyal Legion, brings serious beer fluency, while assistant general manager Sarah Marshall 'is just going to crush the floor with service,' Miriello boasts. 'She's just a superstar all around.' Zena Smith, formerly of Fracture and now-closed Cache Cache, helms the cocktail menu. Miriello says, noting Smith's contributions as part of a larger beverage scope. Dimo's Italian Specialties Smith's previous stints at Fracture Brewing and Cache Cache have indeed instilled in her both a mixologist's meticulousness and a cook's curiosity. She explains that she hadn't intended to be a full time bartender, having previously worked as a mechanic among other vocations. She's spent the past several months 'playing with the flavors of Italy and the flavors of Doug's food,' sourcing and sampling amaros, bringing them to the forefront. Instead of putting the amaros to the side and adding little things into every cocktail as an element, she wanted to focus on the digestif's punchy bitterness, layered complexity, and unmistakably Italian profile, making it the main piece of almost all the cocktails on the menu. Of that burrata whey addition, she remarks, 'I used a little bit of that for that briny saltiness, that lactic acid flavor… almost like zero waste.' Even her sbagliato corretto — a Negroni that sees its gin subbed out for sparkling wine — draws from 'King Cocktail' Dale DeGroff, the famed bartender commonly credited with ushering in the modern craft cocktail revival. His influence is apparent, as Smith is herself enamored with the details of every measure as she pierces each cocktail's surface with a thin wheel of blood orange. Her espresso martini, one of the few cocktails sans amaro, serves as the obvious finale, evokes biscotti, conjuring the soft crunch of almond cookies dunked in morning coffee, reborn, instead, as a midnight indulgence. For all its ambition, refinement, nostalgia, the Dimo's menu still makes room for what Miriello knows Portland is always after. 'The dirtbag stuff.' The purest expression of which is undoubtedly the fonduta burger, a porcini rubbed patty halved and dunked in a warm and gooey fontina fundata. Pairing it with the cacio e pepe fries is a truly savvy play; they're peppered, punchy, and perfect for dragging through molten fontina. For all its flourishes, the heart of the menu stays simple: comfort, flavor, and a wink of indulgence. Dimo's Italian Specialties (701 East Burnside Street) is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. Eater Portland All your essential food and restaurant intel delivered to you Email (required) Sign Up By submitting your email, you agree to our Terms and Privacy Notice . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.