Solon Corporate Finance is an independent debt advisory firm for UK lower-mid-market companies raising or refinancing £3–15m. We bring institutional preparation, a competitive process and direct senior attention to every mandate.
UK-focused debt advisory, with Managing Directors based in London and New York. Direct senior involvement throughout, with rigorous research, financial analysis and transaction preparation.
Each mandate is governed by a written engagement letter and strict confidentiality.
Managing Director
London
Gregory Elgunov is a Managing Director of Solon Corporate Finance. He previously held roles at BlackRock, Permira, Allianz Global Investors and HSBC Global Asset Management. His experience spans private credit, private equity and fund investments, bringing a broad perspective to financing and capital raising.
Managing Director, Head of Origination
New York
James Stevenson is Managing Director and Head of Origination at Solon Corporate Finance. He was previously an investment banking associate in the Technology Group at Royal Bank of Canada in New York, where he worked on M&A, IPOs and debt financings for technology companies, advising management teams and financial sponsors.
Selected experience
Solon’s Managing Directors bring experience across lending, investment banking and institutional fundraising. That combined perspective informs the firm’s approach to financing and engagement with capital providers.
Selected experience gained by the Managing Directors at previous firms, before Solon. Anonymised examples include advisory work, financing proposals and investment assessment.
01
A lender’s perspective on credit, structure and investment decisions.
Credit assessment
Acquisition financing for a software business, including term debt and acquisition facilities.
Credit assessment
Operating-company and holding-company financing for a minority investment and future acquisitions.
Financing proposal
Senior facilities and first-out / last-out debt for a services business management buyout.
02
Experience preparing businesses and transaction materials for investors and buyers.
Sell-side advisory
Financial modelling, transaction materials and management presentations for the sale of a software carve-out.
Buy-side advisory
Financial and commercial diligence on an investment in a marketplace software platform.
Investment banking
Initial public offering experience across enterprise software and connected-operations technology businesses.
03
A complementary perspective on institutional capital and investment propositions.
Fundraising
A capital-raising perspective on presenting investment opportunities to institutional investors.
Investment assessment
Assessment of direct-lending fund opportunities and secondary-credit portfolios.
Investment assessment
Venture funds, growth co-investments and sponsor-led continuation vehicles.
Solon was the Athenian reformer who reset a broken system of credit and debt and helped set Athens on the path to its prosperity. We take the name as a statement of intent, to bring the same order to how the lower-mid-market raises debt.
We sit on the borrower's side of the table and nowhere else. We do not lend, and no lender pays us anything that is not disclosed to you first, so the recommendation follows the best terms available.
Nothing reaches a lender without the lead Managing Director's sign-off. A clean information memorandum, a built model, prepared management presentations and a complete data room. We bring properly prepared credits to market, never a rushed pack.
We know the full spectrum of capital providers from the other side of the table, and we are tied to none of them. We run a competitive process across the whole market and bring the client the lenders that fit the deal.
A raise has a window, and we work to it. We map the market in days, run the process to a defined timetable, and keep the pace through to drawdown.
When the honest answer is to accept the offer in hand, to wait, or not to borrow at all, we will say so.
We combine financial analysis, modelling and lender research to prepare the credit materials, organise diligence and keep each financing moving.
Your lead Managing Director remains accountable for the advice, lender discussions and negotiation through to completion. Every mandate follows the same standard of preparation and confidentiality.
If you are weighing a financing and want a straight read on the options, an early and confidential conversation costs nothing.