What to expect when you work with the Blue Heron–Greenfield Alliance

One bank had passed. When the financing structure changed, it took another look.

An adviser had lenders he wanted to call about a construction financing. Before making an introduction, he asked who had already seen the deal and what we had sent them. For the sponsor, the next conversation also depended on how much senior debt the project could support, how much equity was still needed and who could stand behind the loan.

One bank had come back with a question about the guarantor. Another was willing to take a second look once the proposed operating partner’s role was clear. When could the sponsor expect a letter of intent, and what could we put in front of lenders in the meantime? Before our call, we gave the sponsor and adviser a financing update and a lender-by-lender account of where those conversations stood.

Below are excerpts from that assignment and others. They show what Greenfield shares with referral partners and how the Blue Heron–Greenfield Alliance works with borrowers and lenders. Names and identifying details have been removed.

What each team brings to your financing

Blue Heron brings origination, equipment-finance and sale-leaseback experience, and established relationships with banks and private capital providers. Greenfield’s capital markets desk compares financing structures and lender fit, checks the supporting information and coordinates feedback. When a borrower needs property and equipment financing together, we assess what each source can cover and what remains open.

What the referral partner receives

One partner had introduced several opportunities. Before our next call, we sent him a single email accounting for each one. Every referral had a date, a status and a next step, including those that were closed.

Selected entries from an email sent to a referral partner, under the original stage headings. Referral dates are shown by year.

Deal	Referred	Status	Next Step
Active
DealAsset financing and credit line	Referred2026	StatusWe asked for the schedules after a good first call and followed up. The prospect was reviewing the confidentiality agreement.	Next StepStill open, though our read is they may do this themselves.
Worth Revisiting
DealSpecialty lending line	Referred2025	StatusA lender the partner had already tried passed. Customer concentration and limited tangible collateral were the obstacles.	Next StepOn hold. Follow up with the prospect.
Closed Out
DealBusiness financing	Referred2026	StatusThe bank came back with a revised proposal. The client said the cost was outside its budget. We asked which cost was the obstacle and have not heard back.	Next StepClosed unless the client comes back.

The note ended the way we meant it: “I really appreciate all the referrals, and our partnership. Hopefully something comes through soon.”

A partner should not have to ask what happened to his own introduction. If a deal is probably dead, we would rather say so than leave it sitting on a list.

Before we call anyone

Before we approached lenders on one construction financing, we sent the sponsor and his adviser the names we were considering. The adviser told us which lenders he had already contacted and what each had said. We took one bank off the list for the time being. Another had seen an earlier version of the deal, so we noted what it had reviewed and why it had passed, and asked whether a smaller role might give it a reason to look again. When a new bank reached out on its own, we checked with the sponsor, and he confirmed we could include it.

That is why the tracker below has separate lists for active, passed and planned contacts. The sponsor knows who is seeing his deal. The adviser can work his own relationships without either of us calling the same banker twice.

What the sponsor and adviser see

The morning the adviser asked, we replied with the lender outreach summary and copied the sponsor. Before the afternoon call, we sent both of them two reports.

Excerpts from the one-page sponsor update.

Item	Position at the time
ItemSponsor capital	Position at the timeLand, costs already paid and a deferred developer fee, per the sponsor’s figures.
ItemOperator and equity partner	Position at the timeOperating role, equity contribution and construction guaranty under discussion.
ItemBalance of the equity	Position at the timeTo be confirmed in updated sources and uses.

Who	What was needed next
WhoSponsor	What was needed nextProposed operator terms, timing of a letter of intent, and financials supporting the guarantor. Update sources and uses.
WhoBlue Heron and Greenfield	What was needed nextCoordinate new names with the adviser. Return to two banks once the operator’s terms are documented.

Selected rows from three lists in the two-page report. Contact dates withheld.

Active

Lender	Contact	Where it stands
LenderBank	ContactSpecialist banker	Where it standsPassed on the original capital structure, then re-engaged after it changed and asked about recourse. We asked what guaranty, net worth and liquidity it required, then followed up by phone. Awaiting a reply.
LenderPrivate capital provider	ContactInvestment contact	Where it standsPassed on the size of the senior loan. We sent the revised overview and asked about a smaller senior participation, mezzanine debt or preferred equity.

Passed

Lender	Reason given
LenderSpecialist lender	Reason givenNeeds an operating history. A working-capital line may fit after opening.
LenderBank	Reason givenCurrently passing on new construction.
LenderBank	Reason givenLeads loans below this size.
LenderBank	Reason givenDoes not lend on this asset type.

Identified and planned

Source	Role	Status
SourceBank	RoleSenior lead or agent	StatusApproach once the operator and equity terms are documented.
SourcePrivate capital provider	RoleConstruction mezzanine debt	StatusApproach once the senior loan is sized.

Lender positions reflect conversations at the time and are not commitments, and the underlying information was supplied by the sponsor and third parties and has not been independently verified.

After the call we sent the adviser the two-page financing overview to use with lenders who show interest, copying the sponsor. We told him which contacts we would handle and asked him to copy us on his introductions. He could make his calls knowing who had already heard from us. The sponsor had the list of questions to take back to the proposed operating partner.

See how we approached a separate refinance.

What reaches the lender’s desk

Blue Heron brought us an acquisition through the buyer’s adviser and raised a lender we already knew. Greenfield asked whether the receivables and equipment could support more senior debt than the buyer had modeled.

Reconstructed from the covering email and its attachment list.

What the lender received	What the covering email flagged
What the lender receivedSigned letter of intent	What the covering email flaggedThe immediate request sat inside a broader acquisition program.
What the lender receivedBusiness executive summary	What the covering email flaggedBackground on the business under review.
What the lender receivedSources and uses statement	What the covering email flaggedMuch of the aggregate schedule covered other acquisitions. A tax benefit on the target’s page was not yet documented.
What the lender receivedExplanatory summary of sources and uses	What the covering email flaggedPrepared before the letter was signed, so its description of the deal’s status was out of date.

We flagged all three points in the covering email so the lender could see which figures applied to this acquisition and which assumptions still needed support. The same email listed what was still missing, including current financials, a receivables aging and an equipment schedule showing existing debt, payoffs and values.

Before following up again for the missing records, we checked the package we had already sent. The signed letter was there. The equipment schedule was not. So we could tell the adviser exactly what the lender needed, rather than hand him a list we had not checked. Blue Heron went back to the adviser for those records, and Greenfield would send them to the lender once they arrived.

We also tell a lender when a file is not ready. On the same deal we gave a second lender the preliminary context and said plainly that we were still waiting on the financials, the aging and the equipment schedule, rather than sending an incomplete request and asking it to guess. Read what we check when a financing process gets stuck.

What we take away from a lender conversation

A lender’s program sheet tells us what it offers. A conversation tells us which borrowers it wants to hear about, what will rule a deal out, and how it prefers to see a first request. We record those details in our lender database alongside the program materials, the referrals and the feedback on actual deals. A lender that would rather take a short call gets a call. A banker who handles receivables gets a request that explains the invoices behind the loan.

Here is what one of those bankers received from us. After he helped route a construction request inside his bank, we sent him a two-page profile and asked him to correct it.

Selected fields from the profile sent for correction.

Area	Our understanding
AreaProducts	Our understandingFactoring, receivables management, supply-chain finance, and asset-based revolving or term facilities.
AreaCollateral and advances	Our understandingReceivables and inventory. Advance rates discussed previously would need checking against the assets in each request.
AreaOutside the group’s focus	Our understandingOur earlier discussion placed construction, progress billing and medical receivables outside this group.

What we would bring you. A manufacturer financing customer invoices, an importer needing trade finance, or a distributor borrowing against receivables and inventory for a seasonal build.

One point to clarify. The published program listed one size limit, while a recent announcement described a larger loan. We asked where the group’s current range ended, and when a larger request should go to another team.

Selected rows.

Lending area	Our understanding	Opportunities that may fit
Lending areaBank asset-based lending	Our understandingRevolvers against receivables and inventory, with term debt against fixed assets.	Opportunities that may fitLarger manufacturers, distributors and retailers.
Lending areaEquipment finance	Our understandingEquipment loans, leases, sale-leasebacks and equipment lines.	Opportunities that may fitEquipment purchases, refinancing and sale-leasebacks.
Lending areaCommercial real estate	Our understandingAcquisition, bridge, construction and stabilized-term financing.	Opportunities that may fitExperienced sponsors with income-producing or development property.

The banker could correct a detail or point a request at a colleague. Either way we learn something we did not know. That is what we want to carry into the next conversation, whether we bring a deal to the bank or the bank brings one to us.

The first call starts with the business

If an adviser introduces you, we agree how they want to stay involved. On the construction assignment above, that meant giving the adviser an overview for his own calls and agreeing which contacts our teams would handle. We ask for the records needed to answer your financing question.

If we take on the assignment, we agree on the scope, our fee and how information will be shared. Greenfield’s fee is success-based. We earn when you close. No retainers. No upfront fees.

Tell us what your current lender can cover, what is still open, and when you need an answer.