A cash flow loan is a type of

debt financing Debt is an obligation that requires one party, the debtor, to pay money or other agreed-upon value to another party, the creditor. Debt is a deferred payment, or series of payments, which differentiates it from an immediate purchase. The de ...

, in which a bank lends funds, generally for

working capital Working capital (WC) is a financial metric which represents operating liquidity available to a business, organisation, or other entity, including governmental entities. Along with fixed assets such as plant and equipment, working capital is consi ...

, using the expected cash flows that a borrowing company generates as collateral for the loan. Cashflow loans are usually senior term loans or

subordinated debt In finance, subordinated debt (also known as subordinated loan, subordinated bond, subordinated debenture or junior debt) is debt which ranks after other debts if a company falls into liquidation or bankruptcy. Such debt is referred to as 'subordi ...

, being used for funding growth or financing an acquisition. To secure repayment, the bank imposes covenants on a borrower on such levels and ratios as

enterprise value Enterprise value (EV), total enterprise value (TEV), or firm value (FV) is an economic measure reflecting the market value of a business (i.e. as distinct from market price). It is a sum of claims by all claimants: creditors (secured and unsecured) ...

EBITDA A company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (commonly abbreviated EBITDA, pronounced , , or ) is a measure of a company's profitability of the operating business only, thus before any effects of indebtedness, stat ...

, total interest coverage ratio, total debt/EBITDA, and so on. They will also take a charge over the assets of the business to provide the lender with the ability to take control of the cash flows in the event of default. In contrast, an

asset-based loan Asset-based lending is any kind of lending secured by an asset. This means, if the loan is not repaid, the asset is taken. In this sense, a mortgage is an example of an asset-based loan. More commonly however, the phrase is used to describe lending ...

is lent against company's assets. A ''senior stretch loan'' is the combination of the two.

See also