Duke Capital
An AIM-listed permanent capital vehicle providing royalty financing, a thirty-year revenue-linked instrument with no bullet repayment, at an initial yield of around 13 per cent, from £5m to £30m.
What they do
Duke Capital, formerly Duke Royalty, funds established businesses through what it calls a corporate mortgage: a thirty-year facility repaid as a share of revenue, adjusted annually within a six per cent collar, with no maturity date and no refinancing event. The initial yield is around 13 per cent a year, covering both interest and an amortisation equivalent, and the borrower can buy the royalty back after roughly three years at a set price. An equity kicker features in about seven in ten investments. Capital comes from the listed vehicle itself plus a £100m facility from Fairfax Financial.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
The instrument suits a profitable, stable business whose owners want long-term capital without a refinancing cliff, and which can carry payments that flex with revenue rather than a fixed schedule. Management buyouts, founder exits and acquisitions in care services, healthcare, business services, industrials and hospitality are the typical uses. For a company that will never comfortably refinance a five-year bullet, permanence is worth paying for.
Where they are not the fit
At around 13 per cent this is expensive against senior debt, and the equity kicker makes the true cost higher again in a good outcome. Businesses with less than ten years of operating history, thin margins or royalty coverage below twice EBITDA are declined, as are oil and gas, mining, biotech and anything venture-stage. It is not a turnaround lender.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Initial royalty yield ~13% p.a. (inclusive of principal amortisation equivalent and interest). Adjusted annually, collar ±6% linked to partner revenue performance. Buyback option after ~3 years at principal + ~20% premium.
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- EBITDA floor
- From about £2m
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both. Corporate (owner-managed SME) is core; private equity-backed also considered. No explicit sponsor-preference or exclusion. MBOs common (management team buys out founders)
- Where they lend
- Primary: UK and Ireland (current portfolio concentration). Secondary: Europe (stated expansion target), North America (US + Canada via Abingdon/Arlington)
- How they decide
- Investment Committee with independent chair. Deal origination via Abingdon Capital Corporation (Canada) and Arlington Group (UK)
As published by the lender and last reviewed August 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
What rules a deal out
Stated limits, taken from Duke Capital’s own published criteria. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- Less than 10 years operating history
- Royalty coverage below 2.0x EBITDA
- Oil and gas or mining or biotech
- Start-up or venture-stage
- No appetite in biotech, mining, oil and gas, start-ups or tight-margin businesses
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £30m; 15 of the 46 private-credit funds here go at least as high.
- 15 of the 46 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
Counted across the 46 private-credit & direct-lending funds in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
How large a facility does Duke Capital write?
Published facilities run £5m to £30m. It looks for EBITDA from about £2m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Duke Capital lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Duke Capital lends to owner-managed and sponsor-backed borrowers alike, so a company with no private-equity backer is not out of scope on that ground.
Where does Duke Capital lend?
Primary: UK and Ireland (current portfolio concentration). Secondary: Europe (stated expansion target), North America (US + Canada via Abingdon/Arlington).
What does Duke Capital lend?
The published product set is royalty financing (corporate mortgage) + equity kicker. Published sector focus is broadcasting, business services, care services, fire and security, healthcare.
Sources
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.