Articles
Articles
Shorter than the guides and narrower in scope. One question, answered properly, by someone who has watched the answer matter.
The list
Every article
Accreditation risk on a change of control
Why certification does not simply follow the business, how to establish the position in diligence, and what belongs in...
Asset finance, and the equipment already sitting in the business you are buying
Funding tied to a specific asset. The three forms, what makes an asset fundable, and the agreements in the target that...
Bolt-on acquisitions, and why the buying business is the constraint
The strongest position in the market to buy from, and the one where your own existing debt decides how far you get.
Bridging finance, and why the exit is the whole product
Short-dated money to hold a position while something else completes. What it costs in structure, and why a bridge...
Buying a pest control round
What actually transfers in a round purchase, how to test the schedule, and how the money should be staged.
Buying an M&E contractor
Reviewing the order book, why contracts resist novation, bonds and approvals, and how the deal gets structured.
Completion, conditions precedent and where the money actually goes
The day the business changes hands, the list that has to be cleared first, and the money that leaves before it reaches...
Equity and private equity, and the exit you are agreeing to
Money for a shareholding rather than a loan. What an investor is really buying, what you give up alongside the shares...
Heads of terms, and the funding points that belong in them
Mostly not binding, and it still decides the deal. What to settle in it, and what to leave for the lawyers.
How lenders assess customer concentration
How concentration is measured, why gross profit matters more than revenue, and what it changes in the structure of a...
Invoice finance, and the facility the target already has
Money advanced against invoices already raised. What counts as an eligible invoice, how the two charges work, and the...
Margin and mobilisation cost
Why thin margins change how debt is sized, what mobilisation really costs, and why winning work makes cash worse.
Mezzanine finance, and the cost that only appears at the exit
Funding that sits between senior debt and equity. Why it is priced the way it is, what the intercreditor deed decides...
Mezzanine in an SME context, and when the gap means something else
Filling a funding gap with subordinated debt is possible at this size. It is usually not the best available answer, and...
Refinance, and the year after the acquisition when the terms stop fitting
Replacing facilities that were priced for a risk that has since gone. The triggers worth acting on, and the exit costs...
Service contracts and lender comfort
The clauses a lender reads in a service contract, why a purchase order is not a contract, and what weak paperwork does...
The Budget relief limit: what buyers should have ready
A seller's tax relief limit falls in April 2027. What that may change for a buyer, and the finance work worth doing...
Timelines, and what actually sets the critical path
Honest durations for each stage, the dependencies that cannot be compressed, and the delays that are avoidable.
Vendor and seller finance, and whether your lender counts it as equity
Part of the price left in by the seller. The three forms, and the drafting question that decides how much you can...
What a lender does with your management accounts
The reconciliation, the rebuild of profit, the balance sheet checks, and what makes a set of management accounts...
What a lender wants to see in the first meeting
What the first conversation is really assessing, the questions that always come, and what to ask them in return.
Working capital, and the month three problem after an acquisition
The most under-funded part of a business purchase. What covers the gap, what each facility costs, and the completion...
When you have a deal in front of you, tell us
Articles are the general case. Your deal is not general. Tell us the sector and the shape of it and we will go to the lenders who fund that.