What Is a Mezzanine Loan? & How It Works

 

The mezzanine loan process of a company consists of providing financing that fills the gap between senior debt and equity in a particular company. Preferred stock is a kind of security that can be structured as unsecured debt or preferred stock, giving investors the option of converting it into equity interest.

 

 

Would you like to know more about what a mezzanine loan is and how it works? For more information, please continue to read this blog.

 

 

 

What Is a Mezzanine Loan?

A mezzanine loan is a non-traditional form of financing that combines debt with equity for the lender. It has lower priority than other debts if a business fails. An embedded equity instrument is included in a mezzanine loan instrument. As a result of this, which is sometimes called warrants, the value of the attached debt increases, and this gives bondholders greater flexibility in the events that they deal with the bond. It is common to hear about mezzanine finance in connection with the acquisition of goods and the purchase of real estate and it can be a useful tool for prioritizing new owners over bankrupt ones.

 

 

How Mezzanine Loans Work

In the course of buying a property, the buyer usually uses both equity and debt in order to finance the project. The equity is the amount of money the borrower has invested in the project, and the debt is the amount of money the bank is lending. There was once a time when a buyer would only have to put down 25% of the purchase price, and the remaining 75% of the purchase price would be covered by a bank loan.

 

Nevertheless, due to the new regulations that have been put in place since the 2008 financial crisis, banks are now forced to lend only about 55% of the cost in order to avoid a financial crisis. The buyer would then have three options available to them in order to cover the 20% gap in financing in the event they borrow 55% from the bank and want to put 25% down.

 

It is possible to abandon the acquisition. 2) Raise more equity or 3) Apply for a mezzanine loan from a private lender to fill the gap that has been left by the lack of equity. It is common practice to have a mezzanine loan between the equity and the bank loan. There are several benefits for investors due to the fact that the borrower’s equity shields the fund against possible losses. If the property loses up to 25% of its value, that money can still be protected even if the value of the building decreases.

 

 

 

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mezzanine loan

As with any complex financial product or service, mezzanine financing has advantages and disadvantages for lenders and borrowers to consider. It is true that mezzanine loans and other types of financing feature both advantages and disadvantages, and that is true for small business owners as well.

 

 

ADVANTAGES

Owners rarely lose complete control over a company, even if they lose some independence. It is unlikely that the lender will interfere with the company’s growth and prosperity.

 

As a general rule, a home equity lender will be more likely to invest in mezzanine financing in the long run than they are to invest in mezzanine financing just for the sake of making quick profits.

 

Moreover, mezzanine financing is special because it gives business owners the opportunity and capital to expand their business into a new market or take over another company.

 

DISADVANTAGES

 

Unlike traditional loans, mezzanine loans do not require collateral and verification takes less time. Due to this increased risk, most traditional lending institutions do not offer mezzanine financing. Alternative lenders that offer mezzanine financing are typically looking for at least 20% returns. Due to this, mezzanine financing may have much higher interest rates and terms in comparison to traditional debt financing.

 

 

Covenants may be included in subordinated debt agreements. As Kent Gross and Amin Amiri point out in the Journal of Business Strategy, mezzanine lenders usually do not hold direct security interests in the borrower’s assets. As a consequence, lenders usually include restrictive covenants in their loans. refinance senior debt from traditional loans, or create additional security interests in the assets, as well as the various financial ratios that the borrower must meet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

How Do Mezzanine Funds Make Money?

An investment fund that invests in mezzanines is one that aims to acquire, grow, recapitalize, manage, or leverage buyouts. Mezzanine fund investors earn 15 to 20% returns, which are higher than debt financing. In a mezzanine fund, profits are earned from sales of various mezzanine financing instruments and interest earned on its pooled investments.

 

Are Mezzanine Loans Secured?

Mortgages already on the property can be financed with mezzanine debt. An equity pledge of an entity owning the mortgaged property secures a mezzanine loan. For borrowers in both corporate finance and commercial real estate contexts, mezzanine loans are typically more expensive than secured debt or senior debt because the lender is taking on more risk with mezzanine loans due to the risk they are assuming.

 

Key Takeaways

With mezzanine financing, investors have the opportunity to earn higher returns than traditional debt, and they can be rewarded by income from cash interest, dividend payment interest, equity interest, and payout based on the company’s performance.

In essence, mezzanine debt bridges the gap between debt and equity financing, and is one of the riskiest types of debt in terms of its subordination to pure debt, but being senior to pure equity at the same time.

 

A mezzanine loan is an investment loan typically generating higher returns than other types of loans. In fact, mezzanine loans can often generate returns between 12% and 20% annually.