US middle-market companies in lending are typically defined by annual EBITDA between $5M and $250M, the core target borrower base for direct lenders. The standard sub-segmentation is Lower Middle Market ($5M–$25M EBITDA), Core Middle Market ($25M–$75M EBITDA), and Upper Middle Market ($75M–$250M EBITDA); borrowers with EBITDA above $250M generally migrate to the broadly syndicated loan (BSL) market. Lower-middle deals command 150–200 bps of incremental yield over upper-middle equivalents (the size premium).