TAILWINDLENDING

Lending options

We arrange financing for 4 things, from $1M to $50M, for established, profitable companies. Each can call for a different kind of lender, and knowing which one fits is our job.

Depending on the size and structure of the deal, we arrange the financing through banks, private credit funds, or government-backed lenders, whichever fits best.

Take money out

Turn what you've built into cash without bringing in an outside buyer.

For most owners, the business is the biggest thing they own. These 3 structures turn some of that value into cash, using a loan the company repays from its own cash flow, instead of a check from a private equity firm or an outside buyer.

Common situations

  • You've reinvested for years and want some of it back
  • A co-owner wants out
  • You're ready to hand the business to your team
A family enjoying time together on a lakeside vacation

Dividend recap

A dividend recap lets you take money out of your business without selling it. A lender lends against the "free cash flow" your company already produces. The money goes to you, and the business pays the loan back over time out of those same profits. You keep your company and control of it.

Private equity firms do this routinely with the companies they own. Most owners don't know it's available to them too. Owners use it to diversify their wealth, pay down personal debt, buy real estate, or finally get paid for years of reinvesting in the business.

We'll only recommend it if the business can comfortably carry the payments.

Partner buyout

When a co-owner wants to retire or simply transition out, the business can borrow to buy their share. The company repays the loan from its cash flow, so the exit doesn't create a massive cash burden on the business.

Sell to your manager

If you'd rather hand the business to the people who already run it, a management buyout lets them buy you out, mostly with a lender's money rather than their own savings. You get paid at closing, sometimes with a portion paid over time. They get ownership, and your customers and employees get continuity.

Growth capital

Fund the next stage without draining your operating cash.

Financing for investments that pay back over years, not months. The alternative is usually funding growth out of the operating account, which works right up until the month it doesn't. Lenders look at what you've already built and how credible the plan is, so a clean track record and realistic projections do the most work.

Common situations

  • Opening a new location or entering a new market
  • Buying or building your own facility
  • Adding equipment or capacity for new work
Business leaders inspecting an expanded manufacturing line

Expansion

New locations, new markets, new product lines, and the people to run them. Financing sized to the plan, so you're not paying for a multi-year build from this month's cash.

Real estate

Buy or build the facility your business runs out of. Owner-occupied real estate is one of the few places where conventional bank loans and government-backed programs compete directly, which usually works in your favor. Real estate deals take longer than the rest, so it pays to start early.

Equipment

Machinery, vehicles, and technology that add capacity. Because the equipment secures the loan, it can be quicker to arrange and may leave your other collateral free.

M&A capital

Buy another company: a competitor, a supplier, or one that gets you into a new market.

Financing to acquire another business, based on what both companies earn. These are the most involved deals we handle. Both sets of financials get scrutinized, the structure of the purchase changes what a lender will lend, and small decisions early change what's possible later. Bring us in before you sign a letter of intent, not after. These deals usually take 60 to 120 days from start to close.

Common situations

  • A competitor is for sale
  • You want to expand into a new region
  • You have a target and need the financing lined up
Business owners meeting to discuss a company acquisition

Buy a competitor

Add customers, people, and capacity in a single move. Lenders tend to like these deals because you already know the industry.

Enter a new market

Buying a company that already operates where you want to be is usually faster and less risky than building there from scratch.

Structure the deal

Most acquisitions combine a bank or private credit loan, sometimes a note the seller is paid over time, and some of your own money. We help size those pieces so they work together and hold up when lenders review them.

Refinance

Replace debt that costs too much or holds you back.

Most companies don't revisit their debt until something forces it: a maturity date, a rate reset, or lender rules (covenants) that are getting tight. We look at what you owe today, what the business supports now, and whether a different lender would do better.

Common situations

  • A loan is coming due or about to reset
  • Your lender's rules are getting harder to meet
  • The business has outgrown its current lender
A business owner and banker reviewing financial documents together

Better terms

Often a lower rate, a lower payment, or a longer term, from a lender that sees the business as it is today.

Fewer restrictions

In many cases, looser lender rules and no personal guarantee. Many of the lenders we work with rely on the business's cash flow rather than the owner's personal guarantee.

Cash-out refinance

Refinance what you owe and take cash out in the same transaction.

Not sure which of these fits?

Most owners aren't, and that's fine. Tell us what you're trying to do. Figuring out the right lender and structure is our job.

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