Process
Six stages, and what each one produces
Open any stage to see the work performed, what you receive, what we need from you, and the decision it puts in front of you.
01 Assessment
The work
We establish what actually repays the facility, whether that source can be evidenced, and whether the requirement is financeable as presented. If it is not, we say so here rather than after three months of work.
What you receive
- A written financing brief
- An honest view on whether to proceed
- A list of the gaps that have to close
What we need from you
- Last three years of financial statements
- A description of the requirement and its timing
- Details of existing facilities and security given
The decision it supports
Whether to commission the work at all, and on what requirement.
02 Structuring
The work
Facility size, tenor, security, advance rates, concentration limits and repayment mechanics are worked through, and the commercial trade-off behind each choice is set out, not assumed.
What you receive
- A proposed facility structure
- The trade-offs of each material term
- A debt capacity view on historic earnings
What we need from you
- Decisions on what security you are willing to give
- Confirmation of group structure and any consent needed
- Access to someone who knows the operating detail
The decision it supports
How much to raise, against what, and on what repayment profile.
03 Preparation
The work
The written case a credit committee reads, and the file behind it. Prepared before the first lender conversation rather than assembled during it, because the first version a lender sees is the one it forms a view on.
What you receive
- A lender-ready credit narrative
- An information pack and data index
- Prepared responses to the diligence questions we expect
What we need from you
- Operational and financial data to support the narrative
- Management time for one or two working sessions
- Sign-off on what may be disclosed, and to whom
The decision it supports
What the market is told, and what is held back until later.
04 Lender engagement
The work
The transaction goes to the lenders whose mandate it fits, on evidence of what they take, at what size and on what timeline. Not circulated broadly and repriced by the market.
What you receive
- A named lender list with the reason for each
- A running record of where every conversation stands
- Feedback, including the unflattering kind
What we need from you
- Approval of the lender list before anyone is approached
- Availability for lender meetings
- A view on any lender you would rather we did not approach
The decision it supports
Which lenders see the transaction, and in what order.
05 Negotiation
The work
Offers are compared on the terms that decide the outcome, not on the headline. Advance rates, eligibility, concentration, control of cash and events of default usually matter more than the margin.
What you receive
- A side-by-side comparison of indicative terms
- A recommendation with the trade-offs set out
- Negotiation run on your side of the table
What we need from you
- A decision on which offer to progress
- Counsel instructed on your side
- Clarity on the terms you will not accept
The decision it supports
Which lender to proceed with, and what to push back on.
06 Execution
The work
Diligence coordination, documentation, conditions precedent and funding. We stay on the transaction until the money arrives. We do not hand over at term sheet.
What you receive
- Coordination of counsel, lender and company
- A conditions precedent tracker
- Management of the timetable to drawdown
What we need from you
- Prompt responses to diligence requests
- Corporate approvals and signing authority
- Satisfaction of the conditions precedent on your side
The decision it supports
Nothing further. By this point the decisions are made and the work is delivery.
Indicative and final terms
Terms discussed before a lender’s credit committee has approved a transaction are indicative. They change during diligence and documentation, and a lender may decline at any point up to signing. Nothing produced at stages 01 to 04 commits any lender to anything.
Engagement
KentRidge remains actively involved at every stage: lender discussions, term-sheet negotiation, diligence, documentation and closing. The person who assesses a situation is the one who sees it through.
Commissioning the work
A conversation, and an engagement
These are two different things, and it is worth being clear about which is which before anyone spends money.
Before anything is commissioned
The fit conversation
We look at the requirement, form a view on whether it is financeable as presented, and tell you what would have to change if it is not.
You find out quickly whether this is worth pursuing, and with whom. Not chargeable, and it commits neither side to anything.
Under a written engagement
The commissioned work
The six stages above, from assessment through to execution, each producing the documents listed against it.
You are buying preparation and judgment. A requirement put into a form a credit committee can underwrite, then taken to the lenders most likely to fund it. Scope and terms are agreed in writing before work begins.
What an engagement is not
It is not a guarantee that financing will be arranged. Lenders make their own credit decisions and can decline at any point up to signing. It is not a lending commitment from KentRidge, which does not lend or invest from its own balance sheet. And it is not an introduction service. The value sits in the assessment, the structuring and the preparation, not in a list of contacts.
Questions
Before you get in touch
What is the difference between a first conversation and an engagement?
The first conversation is a fit discussion. We look at the requirement, tell you whether we think it is financeable as presented and what would have to change if it is not, and you decide whether to take it further. It is not chargeable and it commits neither side to anything. Substantive work is carried out under a written engagement agreed in advance. That covers the assessment, the structuring, the preparation and the lender process.
What do you need from our team?
Less than people expect, but it has to be the right material and it has to be accurate. Financial statements, a clear description of the requirement, detail on existing facilities and security, and access to someone who knows the operating detail, not just the reported numbers. The heavier lift is at stages 02 and 03, usually one or two working sessions plus prompt answers to specific questions.
How do we see progress?
The work produces documents, and you see each one: the financing brief, the proposed structure, the credit narrative and information pack, the lender list, the term-sheet comparison. During the lender process you get a running record of where every conversation stands, including the ones that are going nowhere.
What happens if lender appetite turns out to be limited?
You are told early, and you are told plainly. That is the main reason the assessment comes first: it is a great deal cheaper to find out at stage 01 than at stage 04. If appetite is limited but not absent, the usual options are to change the structure, change the security, change the size, or wait for a different set of numbers. We will set out which of those we think is realistic. If the honest answer is that the transaction is not financeable, we say so.
Do you guarantee that financing will be arranged?
No, and nobody who does should be believed. Lenders make their own credit decisions and can decline at any point up to signing. You are commissioning the work and the judgment. The requirement gets properly assessed, structured and prepared, then taken to the lenders most likely to fund it.
Next step
Start with the fit conversation
Send the size, the sector, the security available and the repayment source. If it is not something we can prepare, we will tell you that.
Role
Independence
KentRidge acts for the company or its shareholders. It does not act for lenders, does not lend or invest its own capital, and does not offer, market or place securities.
That matters at the targeted process. There is no lender relationship to protect and no product to move, so the list of lenders a transaction goes to is built from where it fits rather than from where we are owed a favour.
It does not mean the firm has no commercial interest. KentRidge is remunerated for arranging financing, so it benefits when a transaction completes. The discipline that offsets this sits at assessment: we would rather decline a situation than spend six months preparing one that was never going to reach credit approval. The fee basis for any particular engagement is agreed in writing before work begins.