ACL 390611 | MFAA Member | Established 2005
Corporate DebtStructured for the Covenant.
Senior term debt, revolving facilities, acquisition funding and mezzanine layers for established businesses. We compare bank, non-bank and private credit lenders, and we negotiate the covenant package, not just the margin.
15 minutes with a specialist. Nothing goes to a lender until you have approved the approach, so your deal is not shopped around the market. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement and we disclose it in writing before any work begins.
Intellect Finance – Corporate Debt Brokers
Independent since 2005 | ACL 390611What Is a Corporate Loan?
A corporate loan is debt provided to an established business, sized against company earnings and the balance sheet rather than the owner’s personal income. It usually takes the form of a senior term loan, a revolving working capital facility, or both under one facility agreement.
Lenders assess it on earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, the ratio of debt to those earnings, interest cover, and the quality of cash conversion. Facilities normally carry covenants tested quarterly or half-yearly, secured by a general security agreement over company assets.
Corporate and business lending is not regulated by the National Consumer Credit Protection Act. That means fewer prescribed protections and considerably more negotiable ground, which is where most of the value sits.
Our Services
The Facilities We Arrange
Most corporate transactions use more than one of these at once. Senior debt with a mezzanine layer, or an acquisition facility alongside a borrowing base. We structure the whole stack rather than one piece of it.
Acquisition & LBO Finance
Buying a business, backing a management buyout, or funding a leveraged acquisition with senior, vendor and subordinated layers structured together.
Learn moreMezzanine Finance
Subordinated debt sitting between the senior facility and equity, covering the portion senior lenders will not fund.
Learn moreDebt Consolidation & Restructure
Collapsing multiple facilities into one structure, or resetting terms across the group.
Learn moreAsset-Based Lending
A revolving facility sized against receivables, inventory and plant rather than an earnings multiple. Suits asset-rich or cyclical businesses.
Learn moreInvoice Finance
Releases cash tied up in the debtor ledger without waiting on customer payment terms.
Learn moreCashflow Facilities
Shorter-term working capital where the need is timing rather than structural.
Learn moreDevelopment Finance
Progressive funding for property development, assessed against gross realisation and total development cost rather than earnings.
Learn moreCommercial Property Loan
Purchasing premises, an investment asset or a portfolio. Assessed on lease strength as much as the building.
Learn moreCommercial Property Refinance
Repricing, releasing equity or restructuring an existing property facility ahead of expiry.
Learn moreSmaller or more straightforward business facilities sit on our commercial finance page. Equipment and fleet funding sits on asset finance.
Indicative only, checked August 2026. Ranking, security and structure vary with the lender, the transaction and the credit. Nothing above is an offer of credit, a term sheet, or a statement of what any particular lender will do. Everything else on this page is described in the important information at the foot of the page.
Testing the Market Before Renewal?
Fifteen minutes. Nothing goes to a lender without your approval.Credit Assessment
What Corporate Lenders Actually Test
Corporate credit is not scored, it is underwritten. Two businesses with identical earnings can support very different facilities. These are the six things that decide it.
Leverage
Total debt measured against earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation. The single most important number, and the one most often calculated differently by borrower and lender.
Interest cover
Earnings measured against the interest bill. Determines whether the facility is serviceable through a downturn rather than just today.
Earnings quality
Recurring against one-off, cash conversion, and how many add-backs sit in the number. A normalised figure a lender will accept is rarely the one in the management pack.
Customer concentration
One customer at a large share of revenue is read as risk, not strength. Contract length and renewal history matter as much as the percentage.
The security package
A general security agreement over company assets, often supported by property mortgages, cross guarantees or director guarantees. All of it is negotiable.
Covenant headroom
How far trading can move before you breach. This is where a sharp margin can cost more than it saves, and it is the part most borrowers negotiate last.
We don’t publish rates or leverage multiples, and we’d be sceptical of anyone in corporate who does. What we can do is tell you which of the six above is limiting your facility, and whether it is fixable before you go to market. Ask us where you sit.
Start Here
What Are You Trying to Do?
Six situations that account for most corporate enquiries. Pick the one closest to yours.
Our facility expires next year
Twelve months out is a negotiation. Three months out is a deadline, and the lender knows it.
We’re acquiring a business
Senior, vendor and subordinated layers structured together rather than sequentially.
Senior won’t fund the whole thing
A mezzanine layer bridges the gap between what the senior lender will do and equity.
Earnings are volatile but assets aren’t
A borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant, sized on assets rather than a multiple.
Our bank is exiting or repricing
A bank resetting its sector appetite says very little about your business. Others read it differently.
We’re funding a development
Assessed on gross realisation and total development cost, not on trading earnings.
Social Proof
120+ Five-Star Google Reviews
Business owners, directors and developers alongside home buyers. Pulled live from Google.
Joseph Sukkar
Principal Broker · ACL 390611
Who You’re Dealing With
Built on 25 Years in Australian Finance
Joseph Sukkar started in finance in 2000 and founded Intellect Finance in Penrith in 2005. Since then the team has arranged more than 6,500 loans for clients across Australia, from first homes to complex commercial and asset finance.
Corporate and complex files sit with Charbel, our Commercial & Complex Lending Specialist, who works in this area every day across trust and group structures, non-standard security and tight settlement deadlines. Corporate credit is not scored, it is underwritten, so the useful work happens in the pack before anything reaches a lender. A normalised earnings bridge, a clean forecast and a coherent security proposal move pricing further than a phone call will, and the covenant package gets negotiated alongside the margin rather than after it.
Part of Our 100+ Lender Panel
The names most people recognise are residential lenders. Much of what we arrange runs through funders that do not advertise to the public. Accreditation with a lender is not an endorsement by it, and which lender suits you is decided by your file rather than by who is on this list.
In Focus
Covenant Headroom Is Worth More Than the Margin
A sharp rate with a tight leverage covenant is a worse facility than a slightly wider margin with room to move. Borrowers negotiate pricing first and covenants last. It is almost always the wrong order.
A breach costs more than a margin ever will
Once you are in breach the lender holds the pen. Waiver fees, repricing, amortisation resets and additional reporting all follow, and none of it is negotiated from strength.
Test the market before you need to
A refinance twelve months from expiry is a negotiation. Three months out it is a deadline, and the lender knows it. That timing difference moves terms more than any argument about pricing.
The security package is negotiable
Cross guarantees, director guarantees and the scope of the general security agreement are all points of negotiation, not standing terms. What is conceded early is difficult to claw back later.
Don’t shop the deal around
A transaction that has been to six lenders is read as a transaction six lenders passed on. We identify the two or three whose credit appetite genuinely fits, then approach with your approval.
Track Record
Corporate Sits With a Specialist
Complex and corporate files sit with Charbel, who works in this area every day. Trust and group structures, non-standard security, tight settlement deadlines.
The Difference
Why Not Just Renew With Your Existing Bank?
Because your incumbent knows you are unlikely to move, and prices accordingly. A credible alternative changes the conversation whether or not you use it.
Not Just the Bank Market
Private credit has grown into a genuine alternative for mid-market borrowers, and most of those funders do not market to businesses directly. A decline or a repricing from one bank says very little about the rest.
Always in Writing
Business lending sits outside the consumer credit rules, so Best Interests Duty does not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid before you proceed regardless of whether the law requires it.
No Fee. Not Even Clawback.
We don’t charge you for the structuring, the information pack or the negotiation, and we don’t invoice you for clawback if the facility is refinanced away early.
The Pack Does the Work
Corporate credit is decided by people reading a submission. A normalised earnings bridge, a clean forecast and a coherent security proposal move pricing more than a phone call ever will.
Test the Market Before You Need To
Your bank prices on the assumption you are unlikely to move. A credible alternative changes the conversation whether or not you use it. Fifteen minutes. No obligation.The Process
What Happens and What We’ll Need
Corporate transactions are information-heavy. The quality of the pack affects both pricing and speed, so we build it properly before anyone sees it.
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15 minutes
The first conversation
What you are funding, the existing facility and its covenants, the security available, and the timeline. No documents yet. You will finish knowing whether it is fundable, roughly how it would be structured, and what would need to be true.
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You gather
The information pack
We confirm exactly what your lender will want before you assemble any of it.
- Three years of financial statements
- Current management accounts
- Board-approved forecast
- Debtor and creditor ageing
- Group structure and shareholding
- Existing facilities and covenants
- The proposed security package
- Normalised earnings bridge
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We handle
Lender selection then approach
We identify the two or three lenders whose credit appetite genuinely fits, agree the shortlist with you, and approach only those. Your transaction is not circulated around the market.
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We negotiate
Term sheet through to financial close
Margin, covenant package, security and conditions precedent are all negotiated together rather than accepted as offered. We coordinate with your accountant and lawyers through to close.
Questions Answered
Corporate Finance FAQs
The questions directors and CFOs ask us most often before getting in touch.
What is a corporate loan?
Debt provided to an established business, sized against company earnings and the balance sheet rather than an owner’s personal income. It commonly takes the form of a senior term loan, a revolving working capital facility, or both under a single facility agreement.
How do lenders size a corporate facility?
Principally against earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, the ratio of total debt to those earnings, and interest cover. Lenders also weigh earnings quality, customer concentration, sector outlook and management depth. Two businesses with identical earnings can support very different facilities.
What covenants apply?
Most corporate facilities carry financial covenants tested quarterly or half-yearly, commonly a leverage ratio, an interest cover ratio, and sometimes a minimum earnings or liquidity test. Covenant headroom matters as much as pricing, because a tight covenant on a sharp margin can cost you flexibility the moment trading moves.
What security is required?
Usually a general security agreement over company assets. Depending on the lender and the risk, this may be supported by mortgages over real property, guarantees from related entities, or personal guarantees from directors. The security package is negotiable and forms part of what we compare.
Does Best Interests Duty apply to corporate lending?
No. Best Interests Duty under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act applies to regulated consumer credit. Business and corporate lending sits outside that framework. We charge you no fee either way, and we disclose how we are paid in writing before you proceed.
How long does a corporate facility take to arrange?
Longer than SME lending, because more is assessed. Timeframes depend on the complexity of the structure, the quality of the information pack, and whether the lender requires external due diligence or an independent valuation. We give a realistic timeline at the outset and tell you what will move it.
What information will lenders want?
Typically three years of audited or reviewed financial statements, current management accounts, a board-approved forecast, an ageing of debtors and creditors, a description of the security package, group structure and shareholding, and details of existing facilities and their covenants. The quality of that pack materially affects both pricing and speed.
Can you help if our bank has declined or is exiting?
Often yes. A bank withdrawing from a sector or resetting its risk appetite says very little about your business. Non-bank and private credit lenders assess many of these situations differently. Moving before the facility expires gives materially more room than moving after.
What does Intellect Finance charge for corporate work?
Nothing. We do not charge the borrower a fee on any loan type, including corporate, and we do not charge a clawback fee if a facility is refinanced away early. Lenders pay a commission on settlement, disclosed to you in writing before any work begins.
Visit Us
Penrith Based.Clients Australia-Wide.
Penrith is our head office and the one you can walk into without an appointment. We also meet clients at Parramatta and in the Sydney CBD by arrangement, which is where most corporate meetings happen.
Ready When You Are
Tell Us What You’re Funding.
Fifteen minutes with a corporate specialist. We’ll tell you whether it is fundable, how it would be structured, and where your current facility sits against the market. Nothing goes to a lender without your approval. Penrith based, clients Australia-wide. Intellect Finance Pty Ltd, ACL 390611.
Business and corporate lending sits outside the National Consumer Credit Protection Act, so Best Interests Duty and responsible lending obligations do not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid in writing before you proceed. Nothing on this page is credit assistance, financial advice or an offer of credit, and no outcome is guaranteed.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member
Important information General information only. Not credit assistance or an offer of credit. We charge you no fee. Every caveat and source on this page is collected here. Tap to read.
General information only. The content on this page is general in nature and does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not credit assistance, financial advice, legal advice or tax advice, and it is not an offer of credit. You should consider whether it is appropriate for you and seek your own advice before acting on it.
Nothing here is a guarantee. Loan approval, borrowing capacity, interest rates, loan to value ratios, timeframes and eligibility are determined by individual lenders and government bodies, not by us. They differ between lenders and change over time. Any figure, range or timeframe on this page is indicative and is not a quote, an offer, or a prediction of your outcome.
Business purpose lending. Credit provided wholly or predominantly for business purposes is not regulated consumer credit, and the Best Interests Duty and responsible lending obligations under the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 do not apply to it. We disclose how we are paid in writing before you proceed on every transaction regardless.
How we are paid. Intellect Finance does not charge borrowers a fee for arranging finance, and does not charge a clawback fee where a loan is discharged early. Lenders pay us a commission on settlement. The basis of that commission is disclosed to you in writing in our Credit Guide before any credit assistance is provided.
Third-party information. Where this page refers to government schemes, regulatory settings or lender policy, that information is sourced from the relevant authority and was correct to the best of our knowledge at the date shown on this page. Those rules change, sometimes without notice. Always confirm the current position with the issuing authority or with us before relying on it.
Found something wrong? If you believe anything on this page is inaccurate or out of date, tell us at joe@intellectfinance.com.au and we will review and correct it.
Intellect Finance Pty Ltd | Australian Credit Licence 390611 | MFAA Member | AFCA Member