Finance · Funding and capital · Component

Capital structure

The current mix of equity and debt, who holds each part, and the mix the organisation has decided to aim for.

The deliverable

What it is

Capital structure is often known in pieces — the ownership table with the company secretary, the loans with the finance team — and rarely seen whole. Putting them side by side shows how much of the business is owed to whom and when.

Modigliani and Miller’s result is useful here as a prompt. Whatever makes the mix matter for this business — tax treatment of interest, the cost of distress, the signal a share issue sends — is the reason behind the target, and it should be written down.

One level in

What it is made of

Each element is a constituent part of the component. Follow one to see the attributes it carries.

  1. Ownership table

    Who holds the equity, in what proportion, and which classes of share carry which rights.

    3 attributes: Holder · Share held · Share class

    Learn
  2. Debt facilities

    Each loan, overdraft or other borrowing, with lender, amount, cost and the date it falls due.

    4 attributes: Lender · Amount · Maturity · Interest rate

    Learn
  3. Target mix

    The proportion of debt the organisation intends to carry, and the reasoning that supports that level.

    3 attributes: Target debt share · Reason · Reviewed

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List maturities on one timeline. Facilities that fall due together turn an ordinary renewal into a refinancing event.