- Client: UK national with significant private company equity
- Net Worth: Approximately £20M
- Requirement: Circa £2M liquidity for a property purchase
- Challenge: Private company shares subject to contractual restrictions and limited conventional security options
- Solution: Equity-backed facility structured around a future liquidity event
The client was a UK national with a net worth of approximately £20M, holding significant equity in a high-value private company. The client wished to preserve ownership of the shares while accessing liquidity to support a property purchase.
The client required approximately £2M of funding, with the private company shares forming the basis of the proposed security. The objective was to access capital without an immediate sale of the shares, while ensuring that the proposed financing structure took account of the company’s shareholding restrictions and the illiquid nature of the underlying asset.
The shares were subject to strict contractual restrictions, limiting the lender’s ability to take conventional security directly over the equity. The client was also keen to avoid an immediate disposal of the shares in order to maintain their long-term investment position. The lender therefore required sufficient visibility over the underlying asset and an appropriate structure to manage the associated security and liquidity considerations.
Enness Global structured a forward-contract-style facility designed around the private company shares and a future liquidity event. The structure provided a defined framework for repayment and a pre-agreed cost of capital, subject to lender approval and the final terms of the facility. This enabled the lender to assess the proposed transaction while allowing the client to retain ownership of the underlying shares.
Subject to individual circumstances and lender requirements, specialist equity-backed facilities can provide alternative sources of liquidity where conventional financing routes may not be suitable. In this case, the proposed structure supported the client’s planned property purchase while maintaining exposure to the underlying private company equity.
This case demonstrates how specialist lending can be used to explore liquidity solutions against complex and illiquid assets, particularly where contractual restrictions or ownership considerations make conventional secured lending difficult.
ENNESS DOES NOT PROVIDE ADVICE ON SECURITIES-BACKED LENDING OR INVESTMENTS. LENDER INTRODUCTIONS ARE UNREGULATED. TERMS AND AVAILABILITY ARE SUBJECT TO INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES, UNDERLYING SECURITIES AND LENDER CRITERIA.
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Property values can fall as well as rise, and you may not get back the amount originally invested. Property investments can be illiquid and may take time to sell. Where borrowing is used, your property may be repossessed if you do not keep up repayments on a mortgage or other loan secured against it.
