Onate’s Residential Bridging Loans in Ireland - An Innovative SME Funding Solution?

When it comes to SME financing, there’s a whole world of options out there. 

However, if a business is planning new operations or significantly scaling up, historic cash flows may be inadequate to support the extra debt requirement. 

These times occur in the life of any business, and typically the capital comes from the business owners. 

But what if the business owners don’t have this cash on hand?

In the eyes of Philip Maher, Director at Mazars, “having options available for your client in situations like this is critical. Typically the cash requirement is too large for a personal loan, and a traditional mortgage is a slow process”.

Philip recently contacted Onate and successfully secured a one year bridging loan for an SME business owner client for precisely this reason.  

The subject property was a residential investment asset already owned by his client, although it had some title issues to be rectified which Onate worked through pragmatically to resolve.  Onate took first charge security over this property in order to provide the loan.

Philip added that “I always advise my clients to be mindful of the exit for any loan.  With Onate, that doesn’t need to be fully lined up, but a credible plan does need to be there.  In this case there was the ultimate sale of the investment property or refinancing with a longer term lender - both of which are easier now Onate has helped work through the title issues with the property”.

For this particular borrower, and in almost all instances we see at Onate, access to funding with a speedy turnaround time is important. Onate works quickly with the borrower to successfully complete the transaction, providing the capital the company requires.  The borrower must be an SPV (as discussed here), although the property can sit outside the vehicle in certain instances.  

In terms of Onate’s involvement in this transaction, the client is delighted with the outcome.  Philip commented: 

“This was exactly what my client was looking for. It’s a particular type of product, it’s bespoke. As the professional advisor, you want to have a number of options because it makes your job easier to move it all forward. With Onate’s high transparency, there’s visibility and clarity, you know exactly what you’re getting. It’s upfront and you can’t ask for any more than that.”

This was written in conjunction with Philip Maher, Director at Mazars.