Glossary
Unitranche debt
Unitranche financing
Unitranche debt combines in a single loan, at a single rate, what a traditional structure splits between senior debt and subordinated debt.
Definition
Unitranche debt is a single loan that replaces the layering of senior debt and subordinated debt. The company signs one set of documentation, pays one interest rate and repays the principal at maturity as a bullet. According to the France Invest and Deloitte study published in March 2026, unitranche accounted for 56% of the amounts invested by private debt funds in corporate debt in France in 2025, or €8,362m across 106 transactions, compared with an average of 49% between 2020 and 2024. The same study places its cost between that of senior debt and that of subordinated debt. The site’s Unitranche financing page details this financing, its uses and the amounts invested in 2025.
Worked example
A mid-cap industrial company generating €30m of EBITDA refinances €90m of senior debt and €30m of mezzanine debt with a €120m unitranche repayable as a bullet after seven years. It signs a single agreement with a single group of lenders, at a single rate equal to Euribor plus the negotiated margin, and follows a single set of covenants.
Points to check
- The single margin compared with the weighted average cost of a senior and mezzanine structure
- Bullet repayment, which defers all of the principal to maturity
- The financial covenants agreed and the headroom on each one
- Prepayment terms and call protection
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