Florida-based Professional Bank is opening a new loan production office in New Hampshire.

Professional will open a New England loan production office in Bedford, that will focus on the search fund community and related sponsors that provide equity and seek debt to finance acquisitions of small businesses, the bank said in a statement.

The office will be led by Zach Duprey, senior vice president and director of search fund & sponsor finance. Duprey was previously at Amesbur, Massachusetts-based BankProv and its Search Fund Lending Center, where he financed over 60 acquisitions and $250 million in loan closings.

“Professional Bank has the best platform to enable me to continue supporting the search fund community via acquisitions, growth and ongoing service,” Duprey said. “I’m excited to continue working with searchers and investors on acquisition opportunities with Professional Bank’s ability to provide meaningful capital to this niche market.”

Search funds originated in the MBA programs at Harvard Business School and the Stanford Graduate School of Business with the concept of Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition, Professional Bank said in its statement.

Under this model, students who’ve earned their MBAs look for stable, existing businesses that may be in a state of transition, such as succession issues or inability to scale. The MBAs then bring their acquisition opportunities to investors inside the search community who will support them in buying the business and help them transition into a CEO role. These deals come with a higher level of corporate governance and institutional-grade reporting beyond what is typically found at similarly sized local businesses. Deals are originated nationwide across many industries.

“We are excited about entering the search fund space,” Daniel Sheehan, Professional Bank’s chairman and CEO, said in the statement. “Zach is a great addition to the Professional Bank team, and we look forward to being an active capital provider within this talented community.”