Ashley Black lands $10M working-capital loan for medical devices
What's the deal? Direct-to-consumer medical device maker Ashley Black has secured a $10 million working-capital financing, advised by Kadenwood Group. The deal closed on a two-month timeline and was structured as a fixed-term loan.
Why debt? Ashley Black sells Class I medical devices online and manufactures products about four months ahead of sales, so growth runs on working capital. The loan lets it fund that gap without the dilution of a conventional equity round.
Why now? The company needs roughly 25% to 35% of working capital to grow comfortably but had dipped to about 18%, CFO Brandy Hipp said. Her brief was at least $10 million on good terms, ideally interest-only for a period, from a lender able to scale to $20 million.
The structure. The financing includes a second piece that can accordion as sales grow, giving Ashley Black room to expand the facility later without a fresh round of underwriting. "Our need for debt financing is directly related to the sales," Hipp said.
How it came together. Hipp asked Kadenwood to take the first lender calls and bring forward only parties ready to make an offer. Ruben Schwagermann, senior managing director, led the engagement with daily updates and delivered a term sheet before the first call.
"We always look to create competitive tension, as you're always going to get a better price if there's multiple people that are in contention," said Louis Garoz-Ferguson, founder and managing partner of Kadenwood Group.
The signal: A debt facility for a direct-to-consumer medical device maker is a less common path than equity, pointing to appetite for financing that funds inventory and growth while preserving ownership. A recent comparable is Total Joint Orthopedics' debt facility of up to $11 million, raised to fund inventory and expansion. With undisclosed terms and lender, though, the Ashley Black deal reads as company-specific rather than a broader trend.
Read more: theconsumernewsnetwork.com
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