Mezzanine financing can be a lower cost capital raising option for middle market companies. Generally used in acquisitions, leveraged buyouts, management buyouts, expansion, and recapitalizations, mezzanine financing provides companies with more diverse ways to obtain capital beyond their existing lenders.
Mezzanine debt can be utilized when traditional senior debt has been maximized but a company has historically strong cash flows. The common elements of mezzanine financing include cash interest, payment in kind interest, and an ownership option to convert the debt to an equity interest.
Counsel must understand the best situations to use this structure, how to structure this financing alternative, and the wide range of choices available in the continually changing credit market.
Charles J. Morton, Jr., Partner at Venable and Daniel Yardley, Managing Director at Patriot Capital, will prepare lending and commercial finance counsel to understand mezzanine financing as an alternative financing source for middle market companies in the evolving credit market. The panel will explain how to identify when mezzanine financing is viable and best practices for structuring transactions in light of the wide range of choices available.
The panel will review these and other key questions:
- What factors should be taken into consideration when determining whether mezzanine financing is a good option for raising capital?
- What are the best ways to structure the transaction?
- What alternative choices are currently available for mezzanine financing?
- What are the current market trends in the use of mezzanine financing?