Depth before the market sees you.
Most financings are won or lost before a lender reads the first page. We do the credit work in depth first, match it against our own map of lender appetite, then run one disciplined process from first call to funding.
Fewer mandates, worked properly.
We take on a limited number of mandates at a time, and each one is led by a senior advisor from the first call to funding. That is a deliberate choice. A lender's credit committee goes through your business line by line; your advisor should have done the same before they do.
Depth is what turns a request for a loan into a facility a lender can approve: the numbers tested, the risks stated, the structure argued for and the right providers chosen for it.
Senior-led, start to finish
The person on your first call runs your process. There is no hand-off to a junior team once the mandate is signed.
Underwritten before it is shown
We test earnings quality, working capital, debt capacity and a downside case, so issues surface with us and not in credit committee.
Matched, never broadcast
Your information goes only to a shortlist chosen for fit and approved by you, under confidentiality. No mass distribution.
Negotiated line by line
Pricing, fees, amortization, covenants, security, prepayment and reporting, compared side by side and negotiated together.
Five stages, one timetable
Every mandate runs to a written timetable that you and every lender work to. This is what happens at each stage, and what you hold at the end of it.
Diagnose
A working session on what you need, why, and whether it is financeable today. If it is not, we say so on that call and tell you what would change the answer.
What we do
- Review three years of accounts and current trading
- Map your existing debt, security and maturities
- Form a first view of debt capacity and structure
What you receive
- A written view of what is financeable
- Likely structures and a range of terms
- A timetable and an engagement letter
Match
Borrower-Lender Matching Intelligence compares your case with what each provider is funding now, and builds the shortlist most likely to approve on the best terms.
What we do
- Screen providers on size, sector, structure and collateral
- Compare pricing seen in comparable processes
- Set out exclusions with you, such as your current bank
What you receive
- A shortlist with the reason for each name
- An indicative pricing range
- Your approval before anyone is contacted
Prepare
We build the credit package a credit committee needs: the story of the business, the numbers behind it and a clear case for the facility requested.
What we do
- Normalize EBITDA and working capital
- Build the lender model with base and downside cases
- Prepare collateral schedules and the data room
What you receive
- Credit memorandum and lender model
- Data room index and Q&A pack
- A rehearsal for lender meetings
Go to market
We approach the shortlist under confidentiality, run the lender calls and management meetings, handle every question and bring the term sheets in on the same date.
What we do
- Agree confidentiality before any detail is shared
- Manage lender questions and site visits
- Hold the timetable so term sheets arrive together
What you receive
- A weekly status note
- Term sheets compared side by side
- Our written recommendation
Negotiate and close
We negotiate the chosen term sheet, support the lender's due diligence and work with your counsel on the facility agreement through to funding.
What we do
- Negotiate covenants, security and fees
- Coordinate field exams, valuations and legal diligence
- Track conditions precedent to funding
What you receive
- A signed and funded facility
- A closing checklist and document set
- A covenant and reporting calendar
Typical timings for a straightforward facility. Asset-based lending, acquisitions and larger facilities take longer; restructurings run to the timetable agreed with your lenders.
Borrower-Lender Matching Intelligence
Every institutional facility provider has a credit box: the sizes, sectors, structures, geographies and collateral it will fund, and the pricing it is offering right now. We keep our own map of those boxes across every market we work in and update it from every live process we run.
When your case is ready we match it against that map. The providers who fit, and are likely to price best, go on the shortlist. The rest never see your name.
Matched on criteria
Size, sector, structure, geography and collateral checked before any approach.
Matched on pricing
Indicative terms from comparable processes, so you know where the market sits.
Quick shortlists
The right providers identified fast, so your financing starts moving quickly.
For every provider on the map
What lenders receive from us
Lenders move faster, and price better, when everything they need arrives at once and holds up to scrutiny. Every package we send covers the same ground.
Five lending markets. One process.
Based in New York, with a deep lender network in the UK and lender relationships across Europe, Canada, and Australia and New Zealand. Each mandate goes to the market built for it: local lenders for local borrowers, and lenders in more than one market for companies that operate across borders.
Lower middle market credit
Facilities for established companies, from owner-led businesses to sponsor-backed buyers.
- Commercial and regional banks
- Private credit and direct lending funds
- Asset-based lenders
- Equipment and fleet finance providers
- Specialty, warehouse and project lenders
SME and mid-market lending
Our deepest network: unsecured and secured lending for owner-led businesses and growing mid-market companies.
- High-street and challenger banks
- Unsecured SME lenders
- Asset-based and invoice finance providers
- Asset and equipment finance providers
- Private credit funds
Mid-market bank and private credit lending
Senior, unitranche and asset-backed facilities for mid-market companies and their European subsidiaries.
- Domestic and international banks
- Private credit and direct lending funds
- Asset-based and receivables finance providers
- Equipment and leasing companies
Mid-market and asset-based lending
Facilities for established Canadian companies and U.S. groups with Canadian operations.
- Schedule I and II banks
- Asset-based lenders
- Private credit funds
- Equipment finance providers
Mid-market and private credit lending
Bank and non-bank facilities for established mid-market companies.
- Major and regional banks
- Private credit funds
- Asset and receivables finance providers
- Equipment finance providers
Term sheets, side by side
The rate is one line on a term sheet. We lay competing term sheets out like this, line by line, so you can see what each one costs and how each one would feel to live with.
| Illustrative $20m refinancing | Bank | Private credit fund | Asset-based lender |
|---|---|---|---|
| Structure | Term loan and revolver | Unitranche term loan | Revolver on receivables and inventory |
| Pricing | SOFR + 2.75% | SOFR + 6.00% | SOFR + 2.25% |
| Upfront fee | 0.75% | 2.00% | 0.50% plus field exam costs |
| Amortization | 10% a year | 1% a year | None |
| Sizing | Up to 2.75x EBITDA | Up to 4.5x EBITDA | Borrowing base |
| Financial covenants | Leverage and fixed charge cover, quarterly | Leverage only, wider headroom | Springing fixed charge cover |
| Security and guarantees | All assets and an owner guarantee | All assets, no personal guarantee | First lien on receivables and inventory |
| Prepayment | Free after year one | 2% in year one, 1% in year two | Early termination fee in year one |
| Reporting | Quarterly accounts, annual audit | Monthly accounts and compliance certificate | Monthly borrowing base, annual field exam |
Illustrative only. A simplified example of how we present competing term sheets; not a quote and not an indication of the terms available to any borrower.
What clients ask on the first call
How long does a financing take?
A straightforward facility usually takes six to twelve weeks from the first call to funding. Asset-based facilities, acquisitions and larger facilities take longer because of field exams, valuations and legal work. We set the timetable in week one and run every lender to it.
What size of facility do you work on?
From established owner-led businesses to lower middle market companies with larger and more complex facilities. If a financing is outside the range where we add value, we tell you on the first call.
Will you approach my current bank?
Only if you want us to. You approve the shortlist before anyone is contacted, and you can exclude any lender, including your existing bank or a competitor's.
How is our information kept confidential?
Lenders see a short, anonymous summary first. Your name, financials and data room are shared only with lenders you have approved, and only once they have agreed to keep them confidential.
How are you paid?
Through a work fee and a success fee on closing, both set out in a written engagement letter before any work begins. You know what you will pay before we start.
Which countries do you work in?
We work with lenders in the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, and Australia and New Zealand. Companies with operations, assets or a holding company in one of these markets are usually a fit; we will tell you quickly if yours is not.
Your next facility starts with a conversation.
A short first call tells you whether the financing is achievable, what it should look like and which institutional lenders are likely to provide it.
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