Yes, in most cases. Lenders generally require security in the form of a general security agreement over the borrower's personal property, specific charges over identified assets, and one or more guarantees from related parties. Unsecured commercial financing is available in narrower circumstances, typically to investment-grade borrowers or against the strength of a particular cash-flow profile, and is documented under a different covenant intensity. The security side of the file is covered in more detail on our Secured Lending and PPSAs service page.
Yes, in any setting where the facility is material to the business. The loan agreement and the related security documents impose forward-looking obligations on the corporation: financial covenants, reporting cadence, restrictions on additional debt and on distributions, and the consequences of default that affect the corporation's ability to operate for the life of the facility. The cost of negotiating those terms before signature is materially smaller than the cost of working under terms that have not been negotiated.
Yes. Acquisition financing is one of the more common commercial financings in private M&A practice. The typical structure combines a senior secured term facility against the assets of the target, sometimes a revolving facility for working-capital purposes, and, where the deal mechanics require it, vendor take-back debt. The loan documents and the share or asset purchase agreement are drafted and closed together so that title and security attach simultaneously.
Both. Roughly half the firm's commercial-financing work is on the borrower side and half is on the lender side. The work in either direction benefits from what we see across the table on the other side; an instrument we have negotiated against on a borrower file is one we have a stronger view on when we draft it on a lender file, and vice versa.
Yes. We act for clients across the Greater Toronto Area and throughout Ontario, including Mississauga, Brampton, Markham, Vaughan, and the Durham, York, Halton, and Peel regions. Acquisition and refinancing files routinely involve borrowers and assets in multiple jurisdictions, and we coordinate the cross-jurisdictional pieces directly.
A term loan is a single advance repaid over a fixed schedule, typically used for capital purchases, real estate, or acquisitions. A line of credit is a revolving facility the borrower can draw on, repay, and redraw as needed, typically used for working capital and short-term cash flow management. Most growing businesses end up with both.
Asset-based lending is a form of commercial financing where the loan amount is sized to a margined value of specific borrower assets, most often accounts receivable and inventory. The borrowing base is re-tested periodically and can rise and fall with the underlying assets. ABL is common where a borrower has strong assets but limited reported earnings.
A loan covenant is a contractual promise in the loan agreement either to maintain certain financial metrics (such as a debt-service coverage ratio) or to do or refrain from doing certain things (such as not taking on additional debt or granting other security). Breaching a covenant is typically a default event, even if all payments are current.
A commitment letter is the lender's written offer to advance financing on stated terms, issued before the full loan documentation is prepared. It is typically binding on both parties once accepted, subject to conditions precedent such as satisfactory due diligence, security registrations, and corporate authorizations. The terms in the commitment letter heavily shape the final loan documents.
Most commercial financings close within four to eight weeks of an accepted commitment letter, depending on the size and complexity of the deal. Drivers of the timeline include due diligence, third-party consents, security registrations, and inter-creditor or subordination negotiations. Acquisition financings often track the underlying M&A timeline rather than running on their own schedule.
