Debt Advisory

Secure the best funding solution

BDO’s debt advisory team specialises in advising companies about their debt facilities. We work with clients seeking to raise new debt, revise or restructure their banking arrangements, or renegotiate. 

We have strong relationships with traditional banks, non-bank lenders and many private credit funds, ensuring you can maximise all potential funding options. 

With our extensive finance networks, knowledge and cross-industry experience, we are well equipped to provide the advice you need to deal with all aspects of your financial arrangements, and we’ll work with you to ensure the best possible financial outcomes.

How BDO can help

Our debt advisory experts bring extensive knowledge, experience, and strong industry relationships to support clients in meeting their requirements. 

We can assist across advisory, corporate debt and growth capital, property debt advisory, special situations and distressed debt advisory, and M&A and leveraged finance.

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Advisory

  • Banking and debt tender processes
  • Bank covenant breaches
  • Debt consolidation
  • Debt risk appetite statements
  • Debt simplification
  • Debt strategy workshops
  • Distressed debt advisory
  • Expert witness assessments
  • Financier negotiations
  • Interest rate hedging
  • Loan defaults
  • Loan reviews.

We can support new debt facilities by providing advice on:

  • Bridging loans
  • Business mergers and acquisitions (M&A)
  • Business owner-occupied premises purchases
  • CAPEX funding
  • Commercial property purchases
  • Debtor/receivables finance
  • Equipment purchases
  • Industrial land purchases
  • Land-bank purchases
  • Loan refinances
  • Property development debt
  • Residual stock financing
  • Retail shopping centre purchases
  • Shareholder buyouts
  • Working capital facilities.

Corporate debt and growth capital

Securing new debt or refinancing in the current environment can be challenging for companies as financiers seek to manage risk and improve margins. Through BDO’s strong relationships, we assist clients in sourcing the right finance options for their current circumstances.

Given BDO’s extensive client base in the mid-market, we pride ourselves on supporting businesses looking for investment to back expansion and growth initiatives (acquisitions, capital expenditure projects, expansion). Our team is uniquely positioned to:

  • Help you position your business so it has the best chance of attracting financiers
  • Develop a bespoke debt raising strategy to support your growth
  • Prepare your business to facilitate a smooth process
  • Identify and connect you to the most appropriate potential lenders
  • Negotiate the best possible commercial terms.

Property debt advisory

BDO’s debt advisory team has significant experience in all aspects of property development and investment, and we pride ourselves on guiding clients through the entire process to completion. BDO has a range of real estate and construction advisory services, providing clients with access to highly competitive and flexible debt solutions.

Our real estate finance specialists diligently secure senior and subordinated debt options, providing clients with an extensive range of debt across all asset classes, including commercial, residential, retail, and industrial. Our access to capital providers across traditional lenders and private credit (non-banks and credit funds) provides for a wide variety of funding options across the complete capital stack (i.e. senior funding, stretch-senior funding, mezzanine and real estate investment trust [REIT] and portfolio funding), with flexible tenors and terms.

Special situations and distressed debt advisory

We assist clients in developing solutions to complex debt challenges, leading stakeholder management and negotiations in distressed or special situations, refinancing existing lenders, and advising on strategic financial and debt restructuring options. BDO has specialist skills in special situations advisory

Borrowers facing periods of significant change or stress may require assistance in managing their existing facilities, driven by the following:

  • Facing liquidity constraints and requiring access to working capital
  • Going through a period of financial or operational underperformance leading to a covenant breach (or a potential covenant breach), inadequate buffer in the banking facilities, or failure to meet financial commitments
  • Requiring liquidity or a revised capital structure
  • Being over-leveraged due to a drop off in trading, limiting the business’s capacity to secure funding through equity capital markets
  • Underperformance, resulting in a covenant breach, insufficient headroom in banking facilities and/or a failure to meet financial obligations
  • Loss of lender support after changing business strategies.

M&A and leveraged finance (management buyout (MBO) and leveraged buyout (LBO))

Funding strategies and capital for new acquisitions or growth are key to the success of M&A initiatives, strategic growth opportunities, and large capital expenditure projects. BDO can assist in all aspects of mergers and acquisitions. We offer assistance in supporting acquisition and M&A funding, including:

  • Sell-side debt raises to support sell-side M&A mandates
  • Buy-side debt raises to support a new investment alongside M&A
  • Dividend recapitalisations
  • Raising debt for acquisition funding lines to support buy-and-build strategy
  • Covenant amendment and negotiation processes
  • Asset-backed lending or cash flow facilities to refinance and fund working capital.

We support clients to develop and undertake growth funding strategies, ensuring the success of initiatives and approaches to debt in the context of an effective overall capital management strategy. Our approach includes:

  • Tapping into our extensive lender and investor networks and relationships across Australia and New Zealand to leverage all potential financing sources and secure the best terms from the market
  • Maximising competitive tension between lenders
  • Flexible facilities to account for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) adjustments, group initiatives, and pre-agreed synergies
  • De-risking a buy and build through pre-agreed committed or accordion facilities
  • Increasing leverage as the business scales
  • Preserving headroom and flexibility via automatic reset of covenants after acquisitions.

Contact us

Contact our team to discuss your needs using the request for service form.
Alternatively, call 1300 138 991 to speak with an adviser in your nearest BDO office.

Meet our team

Darren Stacey smiles at the camera

Darren Stacey

National Leader, Finance Solutions
Partner, Debt Advisory
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