AFO · Refinancing
When the existing structure no longer fits the business.
Refinancing is rarely just about the rate. The original structure was set when the business was a different size, in a different rate environment, with a different mix of operating priorities. A refi is a chance to reset the structure — term, covenants, advance rate, guarantee scope — to where the business actually is now, not where it was three years ago.
What makes this use case distinct
- Break-even on the prepayment penalty modelled before commitment.
- Structure reset (term-to-revolver, guarantee removal) often beats rate.
- Maturity-driven refis prepared 12 months ahead, not at the balloon.
How this is usually structured
Refinancing, in practice.
Rate-driven refinancing — moving from a 9% to a 6% facility, or term-loan-to-revolver to free up working-capital headroom — depends on whether the prepayment penalty on the existing facility makes the move economically rational. The CPA models the break-even point: how many months of the new rate need to compound before the savings cover the break fee. Often the answer is fast enough to refi; sometimes it isn't, and the right move is to wait for a covenant trigger or maturity instead.
Structure-driven refinancing — moving a fully drawn term loan to an ABL revolver, consolidating multiple facilities, restructuring guarantees — usually delivers more value than rate alone. A working-capital-intensive business stuck on a fixed term loan may be paying interest on capital that's no longer needed; the revolver fixes that. A founder ready to step back from personal guarantees may need a structure that lets the business stand on its own credit.
Maturity-driven refinancing — when the existing facility is coming up on its balloon — is the most predictable trigger and the easiest to plan ahead for. Twelve months out is the right window to start preparing the refi package: normalized financials, refreshed projection, and a lender shortlist that includes both the incumbent and one or two alternatives so the negotiation isn't a single-bidder process.
3 programs in the catalog · 1 live
Programs that fit refinancing.
Each card links to the program profile. Coming-soon programs are surfaced honestly — the screener routes there with a consultation CTA instead of a self-serve apply link until the integration is wired through.
Cash-flow-underwritten facility from a chartered bank, credit union, or Schedule II lender.
ABL Revolver (Asset-Based Lending)
Coming soonRevolving line tied to eligible receivables and inventory. Scales with the business.
Private Credit / Unitranche
Coming soonBespoke debt structures from non-bank private credit funds. Big-ticket only.
Other use cases
Funding a different need?
Each use case has its own structuring conversation. Working capital and equipment look nothing like an MBO; an export ramp doesn’t look like a refinance.
- 3 programs
MBO / buyout
Management buyouts — buying out a founder, admitting a management partner, acquiring the business you've been running — are leverage transactions first and equity transactions second. The leverage stack, the vendor note, and the equity injection each carry distinct economics that compound over the five-to-seven years it usually takes to retire the debt.
Explore the use case
- 2 programs
Real estate
Owner-occupied commercial real estate is a distinct underwriting conversation from pure investment-property lending. The lender is looking at two things at once: the property as collateral, and the operating business as the source of debt service. When both are strong, the structure is straightforward; when one is the weak link, the structure needs to compensate.
Explore the use case
- 10 programs
R&D / innovation
R&D and innovation projects are the single best fit for non-dilutive capital in the Canadian system. Federal refundable tax credits, advisory-plus-funding programs like IRAP, and project-scoped grants like SDTC and the Strategic Innovation Fund stack cleanly with debt or equity — and the CPA who scopes the eligible expenditure pool can dramatically change the project's effective cost.
Explore the use case
Match the instrument to the use, not the other way round.
Twenty-minute call. Bring the use of proceeds and a rough sense of where the business stands today; we’ll walk through which instrument or stack fits, what providers will want to see, and how long the engagement takes.