Which credit structures can finance your company's growth?
Reading time
8 minutes
Date
Jul 14, 2026
Author
Murilo Oliveira — Partner, igc Partners
Structured credit should not start with the choice of a product. The decision starts from the objective of the capital: to finance expansion, strengthen liquidity, extend liabilities, advance receivables, support an acquisition or organize the financial structure for a new phase of the company.
Each structure responds better to a type of need. A company with recurring receivables may have a different alternative from a company with real-estate assets, exposure to agribusiness or a need for a more robust capital raise in the capital markets. The value of the analysis lies in comparing term, cost, guarantees, flexibility, payment capacity and investor appetite before accessing the market.
For the entrepreneur, the right structure is not only the one that makes the capital raise feasible. It is the one that preserves value, increases bargaining power, organizes the thesis for investors and prevents the company from accepting a condition misaligned with its financial or strategic moment.
The central question is not “which product to contract?”, but which structure preserves the most value for the company and solves the capital need at the lowest strategic cost.
A FIDC — a receivables investment fund — can make sense when the company has a receivables portfolio with enough volume, recurrence and predictability to sustain a financing structure. In these cases, the receivables cease to be just a line on the balance sheet and become an organized source of capital.
This path tends to be more relevant when the company seeks to finance working capital, accelerate commercial growth or turn future flows into present liquidity. The analysis needs to consider the quality of the portfolio, concentration, default history, the term of the receivables, documentation and data governance.
CRI and CRA are alternatives tied to specific backing. The CRI — a real-estate receivables certificate — can be considered when the operation has a connection to credits or flows linked to the real-estate sector. The CRA — an agribusiness receivables certificate — can be analyzed when there is a relationship with receivables, contracts or flows from the agribusiness chain.
For the entrepreneur, the point is not only to identify the sector, but to demonstrate that there is a consistent economic base for the structure. The backing, the contracts, the predictability of the flows, the guarantees and the payment capacity need to sustain the thesis presented to investors.
A backed structure only makes sense when the asset, the contract or the flow used in the operation is connected to the objective of the capital raise and to the company's payment capacity.
The debenture tends to be one of the most relevant alternatives when the company needs a structured capital raise, with volume, term and conditions compatible with a growth or financial-reorganization plan. It can support capacity expansion, acquisitions, refinancing, the extension of liabilities' maturities or investments with an expected return.
Unlike one-off solutions, the debenture makes it possible to organize an operation with greater depth: term, return, amortization, guarantees, covenants and a narrative for investors. For this reason, it requires preparation, consistent financial data and clarity about the use of the funds.
Expansion and significant investments. When the company needs to finance a new growth stage with a term compatible with the maturation of the investment.
Acquisitions. When the funds will be used to execute a transaction and the combined cash sustains the payment structure.
Refinancing and maturity extension. When the company seeks to improve the profile of its liabilities and reduce short-term pressure on cash.
The commercial note can be considered when the company has a more specific need, with a defined term and lower structural complexity. It can support liquidity reinforcement, working capital, temporary cash mismatches or serve as a bridge to a more robust operation.
The instrument can offer agility, but it does not naturally replace a debenture when the company needs a longer term, significant volume, a more institutional structure or access to a broader base of investors.
The best structure depends on a combination of factors. The same fundraising volume can have very different impacts depending on term, guarantees, amortization, cost, governance and flexibility. For this reason, the comparison should start from the company's strategic objective.
A well-conducted operation requires more than choosing the instrument. The company needs to demonstrate payment capacity, clarity about the use of the funds and consistency of the information presented to the market.
A clear objective for the capital raise. The capital needs to be tied to a concrete need: expansion, acquisition, refinancing, working capital or reorganization of liabilities.
Organized financial information. Statements, cash flow, indebtedness, margins, contracts and receivables need to sustain the analysis of the operation.
A structure compatible with cash. Term, amortization, guarantees and covenants must preserve the company's operating capacity.
A narrative for investors. The operation needs to explain why the company is raising capital, how the funds will be used and where the payment capacity will come from.
In structured credit, the difference between raising capital and building a good operation lies in the design of the structure, in the quality of the thesis presented to investors and in the ability to create competition among financing alternatives.
In a structured credit operation, igc does not limit itself to indicating an instrument. The work begins with reading the entrepreneur's need and goes through defining the most suitable structure, sizing the capital raise, organizing the financial information and building the thesis that will be presented to investors.
This design matters because credit investors analyze risk, term, guarantees, payment capacity, quality of the backing and use of the funds in different ways.
igc's objective is to access the market with a clear thesis, a structure compatible with the company's cash and real financing alternatives. The better prepared the operation, the greater the chance of capturing suitable conditions of term, cost, guarantees and flexibility.
There is no single answer. The best structure depends on the use of the funds, the cash profile, the available assets, the guarantees and the term required.
Not necessarily. The central point is whether the company has enough size, cash generation, governance and quality of information to sustain a structured capital raise.
Not always. They may serve different needs or even form part of a broader capital strategy, depending on the backing, the term and the company's objective.
In general, when the need is more specific, the term is more defined and the company does not need a structure as robust as a debenture.
