Asset-based & asset-finance lenders

Praetura Commercial Finance

Manchester-based specialist ABL lender offering invoice discounting, stock revolvers, and multi-asset facilities to UK SMEs, from sub-£1m working capital lines to £35m-plus MBO packages.

What they do

Praetura Commercial Finance is the sales finance arm of Praetura Lending, a North West-headquartered group with a combined loan book exceeding £500m. The core product set spans confidential invoice discounting, stock revolvers, plant and machinery term loans, property term loans, and cash flow term loans — structured as standalone facilities or blended ABL packages. The stated deal range runs from sub-£1m working capital lines to £35m structures enabling management buyouts and buy-ins. The business operates nationally, with relationship directors covering North West, Yorkshire, Midlands, South East, and Scotland, and draws wholesale funding from a dedicated £150m NatWest ABL facility and a £200m Barclays securitisation (the latter shared with sister company Zodeq).

Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise

Praetura CF is well suited to UK lower-mid-market corporates where the balance sheet carries meaningful receivables, stock, or fixed assets that can underpin an ABL structure — particularly where a clearing bank has reached its appetite, the business is undergoing a change of ownership (MBO/MBI), or the borrower needs a lender willing to build a multi-asset package rather than a single-product line. Their published case studies cluster around £1.5m–£5m ABL facilities supporting buyouts and growth plans in manufacturing, distribution, engineering, food, and pharma. The relationship-led model — with sector-experienced directors taking the deal from origination through in-life management — suits situations where the story needs explaining rather than just modelling.

Where they are not the fit

Not a fit for businesses with no receivables or hard-asset base (i.e. pure services or IP-heavy models where ABL collateral is thin). Unlikely to be the right counterparty for very early-stage businesses without trading history, or for facilities above circa £35m where a larger clearing-bank ABL team or a syndicated structure is needed. Does not provide mezzanine, equity, or unsecured term debt.

Published terms

Pricing
Not published
Speed to terms
Not published
Sponsored or sponsorless
Both - primarily sponsorless owner-managed MBO/MBI/acquisition; private equity-backed seen
Where they lend
UK-wide via regional sales directors (NW & Scotland, NW, Yorkshire & NE, SE, Midlands); strong North-West roots
How they decide
Small relationship-led team; delegated authority within bands; funded by £200m Barclays + £150m NatWest securitisation/back-to-back lines. Authority is delegated below committee on at least part of the book
Security
A borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant
Covenants
Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit

As published by the lender and last reviewed July 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 Praetura Commercial Finance’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.

  • No appetite in adult, crypto, gambling or weapons

How they sit against the category

  • Its published ceiling is £35m; 10 of the 40 asset-based lenders here go at least as high.
  • Like 29 of the 40, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.

Counted across the 40 asset-based & asset-finance lenders 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 Praetura Commercial Finance write?

Published facilities run £350k to £35m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.

What security does Praetura Commercial Finance take?

On the published terms, a borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant. What a lender takes on a given facility is set in the documents, not by a published stance.

Does Praetura Commercial Finance lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?

Yes. Praetura Commercial Finance 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 Praetura Commercial Finance lend?

UK-wide via regional sales directors (NW & Scotland, NW, Yorkshire & NE, SE, Midlands); strong North-West roots.

What covenants does Praetura Commercial Finance set?

Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit. A covenant package is negotiated on the facility; the published style is where the negotiation starts.

On the record

Sources: praeturacf.com

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.