Praetura Lending
The lending arm of the Manchester-based Praetura group, offering cashflow loans, asset-based lending and asset finance from £10k to £35m, mainly to owner-managed businesses in the regions.
What they do
Praetura Lending brings together cashflow and structured growth loans, invoice finance, asset-based lending and asset finance under one relationship, funded from the group's balance sheet and a £150m back-to-back facility from NatWest agreed in 2026. A team of around 150 covers the North West, North East, Midlands, London and the South, with credit taken in-house. Facilities span from small equipment agreements to £35m asset-based structures, and management buyouts and buy-ins are supported with working capital.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
One relationship covering four products saves real time in a lower-mid-market transaction, where the funding usually has to be assembled from an asset line, a receivables line and a term loan. For an owner-managed business in the North, this is a lender with local decision-makers and enough range to fund most of the components of a £3–15m deal without a second introduction.
Where they are not the fit
The lending is asset, working-capital and cashflow-led rather than a multiple of EBITDA, so this is not the counterparty for a classic leveraged buyout structure. Most facilities are small-ticket, and availability is driven by the asset base rather than by earnings. Pricing sits well above clearing-bank senior debt and is not published.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Primarily sponsorless or owner-managed SME; supports MBO/MBI working-capital; not a private-equity sponsor unitranche provider
- Where they lend
- UK-wide; North West HQ + London, Midlands, South, North East; regional strength in the North
- How they decide
- Relationship-managed, in-house credit; 150-strong team; delegated authority likely within bands; backed by £150m NatWest back-to-back ABL facility (May 2026). Authority is delegated below committee on at least part of the book
- Covenants
- Maintenance covenants, tested every period; Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit, by facility
- Personal guarantee
- Typically required
As published by the lender and last reviewed June 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
The desks that lend
Praetura Lending lends through 3 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Praetura Lending lends, but which of these would own it.
Business / cash-flow & structured growth lending
- Facility
- £10k to £35m
- Security
- Debenture or borrowing base
- Covenants
- Maintenance covenants, tested every period
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth · MBO · Refinance
- Rules out
- Asset/working-capital/cash-flow-led, not classic multiple-of-EBITDA LBO unitranche; Most facilities small-ticket
ABL / invoice finance
- Facility
- £10k to £35m
- Security
- Borrowing base or receivables
- Covenants
- Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth · MBO · Refinance
- Rules out
- Asset-backed availability driven
Asset finance
- Facility
- £10k to £5m
- Security
- Fixed charge
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- Asset-secured only
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Praetura Lending’s own published criteria, beyond the ones each desk carries above. 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, gambling or weapons
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £35m; 12 of the 46 private-credit funds here go at least as high.
- Like 31 of the 46, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.
- It lends through 3 distinct desks, where most firms here run one or two.
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 Praetura Lending write?
Published facilities reach £35m, and the bottom of the published range is small-ticket business rather than a corporate facility. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Praetura Lending require a personal guarantee?
On Praetura Lending's published terms, a personal guarantee is typically required. What a lender asks for on a given credit is settled in the documents, not by a published stance.
Does Praetura Lending lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Praetura Lending lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Praetura Lending lend?
UK-wide; North West HQ + London, Midlands, South, North East; regional strength in the North.
What covenants does Praetura Lending set?
Maintenance covenants, tested every period; Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit, by facility. A covenant package is negotiated on the facility; the published style is where the negotiation starts.
What does Praetura Lending lend?
The published product set is business / cash-flow & structured growth lending, abl / invoice finance, asset finance.
On the record
2025: >1,500 UK SMEs supported, £328m funding; combined loan book >£569m (Oct 2025), ~£600m over 5yr (prolificnorth.
May 2026: £150m back-to-back ABL facility from NatWest (insidermedia.
Sources: praetura.co.uk · prolificnorth.co.uk · insidermedia.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.