CINCINNATI, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Fifth Third Bancorp (Nasdaq: FITB) has announced today the formation of a focused private equity lending team, Fifth Third Sponsor Leveraged Finance. The team will provide cash flow financings to a select group of private equity clients and will target businesses with $10 million to $50 million in earnings before interest, taxes depreciation and amortization (EBITDA).

Managing Directors Brian Crabb and Josh VanManen will lead the team. Crabb comes to Fifth Third Bank with experience in the leveraged environment from Heller Financial, GE Capital, and most recently, CapitalSource Finance. VanManen joins the team from Fifth Third Bank's Structured Finance business, where he most recently ran the group's Western Region team in Denver.

"Fifth Third Sponsor Leveraged Finance marks a new foray into middle market private equity lending for Fifth Third Bank," said Crabb. "At a time when sources of debt for private equity deals have been severely diminished, we are excited to enter this arena with a dedicated and focused effort. With the capital strength of Fifth Third Bank and the knowledge and experience of our team, we believe there is a real opportunity to provide our clients with the products, knowledge and support that they need and deserve."

For more information about Fifth Third Sponsor Leveraged Finance, visit www.53.com.

Fifth Third Bancorp is a diversified financial services company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio. The Company has $111 billion in assets, operates 16 affiliates with 1,306 full-service Banking Centers, including 100 Bank Mart® locations open seven days a week inside select grocery stores and 2,372 ATMs in Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Michigan, Illinois, Florida, Tennessee, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Missouri, Georgia and North Carolina. Fifth Third operates four main businesses: Commercial Banking, Branch Banking, Consumer Lending, and Investment Advisors. Fifth Third also has a 49% interest in Fifth Third Processing Solutions, LLC. Fifth Third is among the largest money managers in the Midwest and, as of September 30, 2009, has $184 billion in assets under care, of which it managed $25 billion for individuals, corporations and not-for-profit organizations. Investor information and press releases can be viewed at www.53.com. Fifth Third's common stock is traded on the NASDAQ® National Global Select Market under the symbol "FITB." Member FDIC.

SOURCE Fifth Third Bancorp