Private-Credit Refinancing Board Adviser

The mandate

The group is refinancing a near-term maturity in a context of freight softness and asset-disposal timing. A private-credit proposal extends tenor but introduces broad security, cash sweeps, covenant resets and consent economics that management presents mainly through the lower immediate repayment. Directors need an independent downside view before choosing between lender certainty, shareholder dilution and operational restriction.

The adviser will devote three days monthly across eight months to one liquidity, collateral or covenant decision cycle at a time. Five finance-and-risk committee sessions and four lender, asset or operating reviews are included. Negotiation updates are tested against the latest cash case; the adviser does not join routine lender calls unless the chair requests challenge on a defined term.

The eight-month appointment terminates at financing close or the final board decision on alternatives, whichever occurs first. Renewal for covenant monitoring would require a different mandate, fresh conflicts and explicit committee approval. A delayed lender process does not automatically extend the retainer or convert the adviser into treasury management.

The role has no line authority and no executive responsibility for treasury, lender negotiation, forecasts, asset sale, legal documentation, payment or financing execution. Management negotiates and directors approve capital structure. The adviser may challenge a term or downside case but cannot represent the borrower, commit collateral or communicate an acceptance.

Relationships with proposed lenders, competing credit funds, shareholders, asset buyers, valuation firms, restructuring advisers or logistics counterparties create conflicts requiring disclosure before the relevant review. Holdings in group debt must be declared immediately. No success fee, financing commission or compensation linked to lender selection is permitted.

Why the board wants this voice

Management is focused on curing maturity pressure, lenders optimise protection and shareholders weigh dilution against control. The apparent headline price does not show operational flexibility through a downside cycle. An independent private-credit operator can help directors compare whole-package economics without becoming a negotiator.

What you will own

• Challenge the base liquidity case across freight volume, margin, working capital, maintenance capital and asset-sale timing.
• Compare debt extension, equity support, asset disposal and hybrid alternatives through cash, control and execution risk.
• Test covenant definitions, cure rights, headroom, baskets, information duties and cross-default under downside scenarios.
• Examine collateral perimeter, cash sweeps, mandatory prepayment, valuation assumptions and operational restrictions by asset.
• Probe fees, original-issue economics, hedging, consent pricing, call protection and refinancing flexibility beyond headline margin.
• Shape board triggers for negotiation stop, contingency activation, shareholder support and asset-sale acceleration.
• Frame a source-linked financing scorecard, downside cases, unresolved legal inputs and committee decisions.

Candidate qualifications

• Advised boards or held treasury authority through private-credit refinancing of a leveraged logistics or asset-heavy group.
• Modelled covenant, collateral, cash-sweep and mandatory-prepayment economics across severe operating downside.
• Compared debt, equity, disposal and hybrid routes under genuine maturity pressure and uncertain execution.
• Challenged lender terms without confusing financial analysis with legal interpretation or negotiation authority.
• Connected operational assets, maintenance needs and working capital to financing flexibility rather than leverage ratios alone.
• Maintained independence from lenders, funds, shareholders, advisers and potential asset buyers during selection.