We provide lender-ready capital raise packaging and debt or equity placement support for business owners and buyers looking to secure serious term sheets and close funding on a defined timeline.
For business owners and acquirers pursuing private debt or equity, submit your deal for review. We revert within one working day with next steps and either a quote for our services.
For pre-submission discussions, we offer paid consultations. To initiate underwriting and lender outreach, submit the deal.
Transactional trade finance works well for individual deals. It stops working well when your trading volume grows and each deal requires a separate application, approval, and documentation cycle. A borrowing base facility replaces that friction with a revolving credit line that scales with your book. The amount you can draw at any moment is tied directly to the value of your eligible inventory and receivables, not to a fixed limit set months ago.
Who this is for: Commodity traders and trading companies that are closing multiple deals per month, have a recurring counterparty base, and are spending too much time and cost financing each transaction individually. If transactional finance is slowing your growth, a borrowing base facility is the natural next step.
For a trader doing two or three deals a year, transactional finance is entirely appropriate. Each transaction is assessed on its own merits, documented independently, and repaid when the deal settles. The cost and effort are proportionate to the volume.
For a trader with a growing book, that same approach becomes a constraint. Each deal requires its own approval process. Documentation cycles eat into execution time. Lender relationships that are managed deal by deal carry higher per-transaction costs and no committed liquidity. If a deal arrives that needs funding quickly, there is no standing facility to draw from.
The borrowing base facility solves this. It is a pre-agreed, revolving structure where eligibility criteria and advance rates are set upfront, and drawdowns happen against the current value of your book rather than through a new application each time. The operational burden front-loads into the structuring phase and reduces significantly once the facility is live.
The core mechanic is straightforward. The lender agrees to advance a percentage of the value of your eligible assets at any given time. As your book grows, more assets enter the base and your available credit increases. As trades settle and receivables are collected, those assets leave the base and are replaced by new ones.
The facility is secured entirely against current assets. There is no requirement to pledge fixed assets or provide personal guarantees in most commodity borrowing base structures. The lender's security is in the goods, contracts, and receivables that comprise your trading book.
| Component | What It Means in Practice |
|---|---|
| Eligible Assets | The pool of assets the lender is willing to count toward the borrowing base. Typically includes qualifying receivables, insured inventory, goods in transit, and in some structures, prepayment rights. Assets that fall outside the eligibility criteria are excluded from the calculation. |
| Advance Rate | The percentage of each eligible asset's value the lender will advance against. Receivables from creditworthy buyers typically attract 80 to 85 percent. Inventory advance rates are generally lower, often 50 to 70 percent, reflecting the additional steps required to convert physical goods to cash. |
| Borrowing Base | The total available credit at any moment, calculated as the sum of each eligible asset category multiplied by its advance rate. If your qualifying receivables are $10 million at 85 percent and your eligible inventory is $5 million at 60 percent, your borrowing base is $11.5 million. |
| Borrowing Base Certificate | A periodic report submitted by you to the lender showing the current composition and value of eligible assets. Most facilities require monthly submission as a minimum. The certificate is the mechanism by which the facility limit is recalculated and confirmed. |
| Deficiency | If the outstanding drawn balance exceeds the current borrowing base, a deficiency exists. The borrower is typically required to repay the shortfall promptly. Deficiencies most often arise from a fall in commodity prices reducing the value of inventory collateral, or from receivables becoming ineligible due to aging or counterparty issues. |
| Facility Tenor | Most commodity borrowing base facilities are structured for one to two years, with the possibility of renewal or extension. This provides committed liquidity over a defined period, unlike bilateral transactional facilities which are deal-by-deal and carry no commitment. |
Eligibility criteria are negotiated at the outset and defined in the facility agreement. Not all assets of the same type qualify. The lender applies filters based on counterparty quality, maturity, jurisdiction, and documentation standard. Understanding which assets are likely to qualify, and which will be excluded, is essential to sizing the facility correctly before you approach a lender.
Receivables from buyers who meet the lender's credit threshold and fall within the permitted maturity window are typically the highest-quality borrowing base assets. Receivables from investment-grade or well-rated counterparties attract the highest advance rates. Receivables from buyers the lender cannot verify or rate are usually excluded.
Physical goods held in a third-party controlled warehouse under a collateral management agreement can qualify as eligible inventory. The lender requires that the inventory is insured, properly documented, and subject to an arrangement with a recognised collateral manager. Goods in transit can qualify under similar conditions if covered by appropriate documentation and insurance.
In some structures, contractual rights under signed, unconditional purchase agreements with creditworthy buyers can form part of the eligible asset pool. This is more common in energy and metals trading where forward delivery contracts are standard and the counterparties are rated or well-known.
Cash held in accounts pledged to the lender may be included in the base at a 100 percent advance rate. This is relatively uncommon as the primary purpose of the facility is to unlock liquidity rather than hold cash, but it can be relevant during the early months of the facility while the trading book builds.
What gets excluded: Receivables past their permitted maturity, receivables from counterparties the lender will not accept, inventory not under a recognised collateral management arrangement, goods in jurisdictions the lender excludes, and any asset subject to a prior security interest. The eligibility matrix is one of the most important documents to negotiate carefully before signing the facility agreement.
Both structures have their place. The decision to move from transactional to borrowing base financing is not just about volume. It is about the nature of your trading book and whether the operational profile of a borrowing base fits your business.
| Factor | Transactional Finance | Borrowing Base Facility |
|---|---|---|
| Deal volume | Low to medium, sporadic deal flow | Regular, recurring trading activity across a consistent counterparty base |
| Upfront structuring work | Low per deal, repeated each time | Higher upfront, significantly lower ongoing burden once live |
| Committed liquidity | None. Each deal requires fresh approval | Committed line available to draw within the current borrowing base |
| Pricing | Higher per transaction, less room to negotiate | Lower effective cost at scale once the facility is established |
| Operational reporting | Deal-level documentation only | Regular borrowing base certificates and periodic lender audits required |
| Flexibility on new trades | Full discretion, no constraints | New trades must meet eligibility criteria to enter the base |
A metals trader has the following assets at the end of a reporting period. All figures are illustrative.
Total borrowing base: $13.8 million. If the trader has $11 million drawn, the surplus is $2.8 million available to draw for new trades entering the book. When the $12 million in receivables is collected, those assets exit the base, the available credit contracts, and is rebuilt as new qualifying trades are booked.
Key insight: The borrowing base is not a static limit. It breathes with your book. A growing, active trading operation will see its available credit expand as qualifying assets accumulate. A period of low activity or falling commodity prices will contract it. That is by design, and it is what makes the structure genuinely self-correcting from a lender risk perspective.
A borrowing base facility is a more complex underwriting exercise than a transactional facility. The lender is not just assessing a single deal. They are assessing your trading operation, your counterparty quality, your operational controls, and your ability to manage and report on the facility accurately over its life.
Traders often build their facility sizing expectations on gross asset values before applying eligibility filters and advance rates. When the eligibility matrix is applied, the actual borrowing base can be significantly smaller than expected. Model it conservatively from the start.
If your top two buyers represent 80 percent of your receivables book, a large portion of those receivables may be ineligible once the lender's concentration cap is applied. Diversifying your counterparty base before approaching a lender will directly improve the facility size you can achieve.
Borrowing base certificates, lender audits, and periodic covenant reporting require internal resource. Companies that treat reporting as an afterthought find themselves in technical breach or facing lender scrutiny at the worst possible moment. Build the reporting function into your operations before the facility goes live.
If commodity prices fall sharply, the value of your inventory collateral falls with them. A deficiency can arise quickly when markets move. Stress test your borrowing base against a 20 to 30 percent price decline across your key commodities before signing the facility agreement.
We work with commodity traders who are ready to move beyond deal-by-deal financing and establish a facility that scales with their book. If you have a consistent trading history, a recurring counterparty base, and are closing multiple deals per month, a borrowing base facility is likely the right next step. Submit your deal and we will review your trading profile and advise on structure, sizing, and lender options.
A revolving credit line where the amount available to draw is tied directly to the value of eligible assets in your trading book. As your book grows, available credit increases. As trades settle, the base contracts and is rebuilt by new activity entering the facility.
Typically qualifying receivables from creditworthy buyers within a permitted maturity window, insured inventory under a collateral management arrangement, and goods in transit with appropriate documentation. Each lender defines eligibility criteria differently, and assets outside those criteria are excluded.
The percentage of an eligible asset's value the lender will advance against. Receivables from rated buyers typically attract 80 to 85 percent. Inventory advance rates are generally lower, often 50 to 70 percent, reflecting the additional steps required to convert physical goods to cash.
A periodic report submitted by the borrower detailing the current composition and value of eligible assets. It is the mechanism by which the available facility limit is recalculated. Most facilities require monthly submission as a minimum, with lender audits conducted periodically to verify reported figures.
When your trading volume and counterparty base have reached a level where deal-by-deal financing creates material operational friction and cost. The structuring work is heavier upfront, but the ongoing burden is significantly lower and committed liquidity removes refinancing risk on individual trades.
If the outstanding drawn balance exceeds the current borrowing base, the borrower is required to repay the shortfall promptly. Stress testing your facility against a significant price decline before signing is essential to avoid being caught with a deficiency at a moment of market stress.
Disclaimer: This content is informational and does not constitute legal, financial, or investment advice. Borrowing base facility structures, eligibility criteria, and lender requirements vary significantly by transaction, commodity, jurisdiction, and counterparty profile. Obtain independent legal and financial review before committing to any financing arrangement.
Financely advises growth-focused businesses on accessing capital by introducing their opportunities to professional investors. Financely is not a securities broker or dealer. Where appropriate, engagements are coordinated with regulated broker-dealers, investment banks, legal counsel, and other specialists.
Financely does not solicit, offer, or accept orders to buy or sell securities and makes no assurance regarding capital-raising outcomes.
Services are strictly business-to-business. Financely does not provide personal finance, consumer credit, or retail advisory services.
Advisory services are reserved for post-revenue companies that recognize the time and resources required for professional underwriting.
To proceed,
request a quote
and receive indicative commercial terms. If you require guidance before engaging,
book a paid telephone consultation.
Security notice: we are aware of third parties using Financely’s name without authorization. Only emails sent from our official domains and communications through our portal are valid. Please verify any outreach before sharing documents or sending payments, and read our impersonation warning.
Email supportdesk@financely-group.com for general enquiries, press & partnership requests.
All mandates start with an RFQ. We review submissions, issue a brief Go/No-Go memo, and where bankable, release a Term Sheet that leads to funding. We arrange capital across Senior Secured, Unitranche, Second Lien/Mezzanine, Preferred Equity, and Gap Solutions. We do not process deals by email or chat.
Letters of Credit, Standby LCs, Confirmations, Receivables Finance, and Inventory Lines with control.
Funding arranged for trade flows with instruments sized to your cycle and aligned to delivery and settlement.
Move forward to secure working capital and keep goods moving. Submit the RFQ to start underwriting for funding.
Limited or non-recourse structures for energy and infrastructure with lender-ready materials.
Funding solutions aligned to project cash flows with credible covenants and conditions to reach notice to proceed.
Advance the file to termable status. Submit the RFQ so we can underwrite and secure funding.
Debt and Preferred solutions anchored on cash flow, Quality of Earnings, and clear closing mechanics.
Funding across senior, unitranche, and preferred to match stable cash flows and acquisition timelines.
Get financed on workable terms for closing. Submit the RFQ to start underwriting.
Acquisition, development, bridge, and refinance with lender-ready packs and third-party reports managed.
Funding calibrated to DSCR, leverage, and tenancy with terms designed to close.
Move to a financeable package. Submit the RFQ to initiate underwriting for funding.
KYC and Source of Funds required. Engagements are best-efforts and subject to underwriting. Preference for operating companies with meaningful revenue. See our FAQ and Procedure.
Financely Inc. (“Financely”) provides corporate-finance advice and is wholly owned by Aurora Bay Trust, a trust formed under Bahamian law, together with its authorized affiliates. Depending on deal structure, jurisdiction, and local rules, engagements may be carried out through Financely Group LLC, a non-deposit-taking, non-banking financial company; Ashford Capital Advisory LLC; or another related entity.
Financely and its affiliates are not registered as securities broker-dealers and do not execute securities transactions or hold client funds or securities. When a mandate involves the purchase or sale of securities and a registered intermediary is required, any orders are introduced to and executed by one or more independent U.S. broker-dealers registered with the SEC and FINRA. Those broker-dealers are solely responsible for trade execution, custody, and related regulatory obligations. Nothing in this material constitutes an offer, solicitation, or recommendation to buy or sell any security or to engage in any specific transaction. Before engaging Financely Group LLC, Ashford Capital Advisory LLC, or any affiliate, you are responsible for confirming that such engagement complies with your own legal, regulatory, tax, and other requirements. In the United States, certain advisory activities may be conducted in reliance on exemptions available under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, including the “foreign private adviser” exemption where applicable. Our services and regulatory status may vary by jurisdiction and by transaction type.
Click
here to download our brochure. Email
supportdesk@financely-group.com for general enquiries.
