Deal structures, and why lenders care which one you are doing

It is asking what it would be lending against, what it could recover if things went badly, who else has a claim, and when the money actually leaves the building. Structure decides all four.

Buying shares means inheriting the company's history and its liabilities. Buying assets usually means leaving those behind, and it can also mean leaving behind the contracts and consents that let the business trade. Deferring part of the price reduces what you need on day one and creates a second creditor sitting alongside the bank. Each of those is a different risk picture, and a lender prices each one differently.

The practical consequence for a buyer is simple: settle the shape of the deal before you go looking for the money, or expect to renegotiate it afterwards.

A typical acquisition in the sectors we cover is rarely one structure and one facility. It is more often a share or asset purchase, with part of the price deferred, some vendor finance bridging the gap, and two or three facilities behind it doing different jobs.

That is normal, and it is where the ordering matters. Read stacking facilities alongside equity contribution to see how the pieces fit and how much you are expected to put in yourself. If the deal involves a retiring owner, succession and retirement sales is the one to start with, and the buyer journey covers what happens around it in the right order.