Capital Raising
Every instrument is priced in writing before a provider is contacted.
A raise turns on one decision made early: which form the capital takes, and what that form costs in dilution and control. We run a five-step process we call Instrument First. It opens by pricing senior debt, structured minority capital and common equity against your situation, and the comparison is written down. It can conclude that the right answer is debt, or no raise at all.
Debt first
Debt capacity is tested before equity is considered.
Debt is usually the cheaper capital, so the first test in the comparison is how much debt your business can carry and on what terms. Capacity is measured on normalised EBITDA, with owner compensation and non-operating costs adjusted before the capacity number is written down. Where debt wins the comparison, the raise becomes a financing and the same adviser runs it under our debt advisory mandate. Equity-like instruments are scoped once debt has been measured and found short of what your plan needs.
Who this is for
Mandate criteria
Which instrument fits depends on the situation. These are the parameters we work within.
- Instruments
- Mezzanine, preferred, convertible and structured minority capital, and capital for defined projects.
- Size
- $5M or more.
- Sponsor
- An operating company, or a defined project with committed management and a use of proceeds that can be written down.
- Basis
- Providers are identified from comparable funded situations, with the reasoning shown.
Process
How Instrument First runs
Five steps run every raise, from the instrument decision through to documentation and close.
Instrument
Every form the capital could take, senior debt through structured minority capital to common equity, priced in cost, dilution and control terms. You hold the instrument comparison as a written document from the first working session, and it can conclude that the answer is a loan, or that there is no raise to run.
- Each instrument priced on cost, dilution and control
- Use of proceeds and structure summary
Decision pointWith that comparison in hand, you decide whether to raise, which instrument to raise, and whether a process is worth running.
View a sampleEvidence
A fund or institution joins the list when comparable funded situations show it writes this instrument at this size, with the sourcing sitting next to the name.
Those comparables come from the firm's origination engine, which reads lender filings to show which providers have funded situations like yours, at your size, on terms that are on the public record.
- Provider set with the reasoning shown for each name
- Approach plan and sequencing
Package
The raise prepared the way an investment committee will read it.
- Presentation and financial summary
- Data room built before the first meeting
Market
Providers approached in parallel, with interest managed so terms arrive together.
- Managed outreach and provider questions
- Weekly status on who is engaged and where
Terms
Every proposal set side by side on economics, structure and control terms, then negotiated through documentation to close.
- Term table across all live proposals
- Support through documentation and close
The instrument is decided on paper before the market is approached. Approaching providers first hands that decision to whoever answers, and the instrument easiest to place is rarely the cheapest one for your company.
Questions companies ask
Before a raise starts
What do you need from us to start?
Financials, the plan the capital funds and the use of proceeds. The first working session produces the instrument comparison, and the mandate is scoped from there.
We already have an offer from one provider. Why run a process?
One offer on its own has nothing to be read against. Running providers together puts it on the term table beside the others, priced on economics, structure and control, so you can see what each one costs. Sometimes the first provider still wins, and you sign with the alternatives written down.
How long does a raise take?
It depends on the instrument and how prepared your company is. The timeline is written down at engagement, stage by stage, and the weekly status shows where every provider stands against it.