Insights

A ten-month job billing $100,000 a month withholds $100,000 by closeout. At builder margins near 11 percent that is almost the entire profit on the job, and a standard receivables facility gives you nothing against it.

Two buyers agree the same $18 million price for the same business. Depending on how the deferred consideration is structured, the cash the buyer needs at close is $9 million, $5 million, or $3 million. The price never changed.

Two principals began structuring on the same Monday. A $5 million facility against receivables closed in six weeks. A $30 million facility against mixed collateral took eighteen. Where the twelve extra weeks actually go.

The median interval from seed to Series A has stretched to roughly 2.2 years. A company that closed with 18 months of cash is eight months short before it does anything wrong. What the decision looks like at month 10 against month 16.

A distributor doing $40 million in revenue needs $6 million. Read against cash flow it is short. Read against its assets it clears. Read as a blend it borrows $8.2 million. Same company, same week, three answers.

Van spot rates ran 45.6 percent above a year ago in late July while diesel climbed 13.8 percent in four weeks. Both movements enlarge the cash a carrier funds before it gets paid. Why a better freight market consumes capital.

Second-quarter deals of $100 million or more rose 88 percent in value and 29 percent in volume, and the data that reports it does not count anything smaller. What that means for a buyer working a $5 to $50 million acquisition.

A net 25 percent of surveyed lenders narrowed spreads on middle-market loans last quarter, and six of eight tracked terms moved the borrower's way. Complex, regulated, and non-sponsor situations capture that only if the file fits the mandate.