CASE STUDY
The Client:
A large, family-owned construction company with diverse operations across multiple disciplines including heavy civil construction, industrial projects, crane services, fabrication, and maintenance, the business operates a highly crane-intensive fleet supporting infrastructure and energy projects nationwide. With decades of industry experience and specialized capabilities in technically demanding work requiring sophisticated lifting equipment, the company had built a strong reputation and substantial asset base. However, strategic decisions made during the COVID downturn to maintain workforce and activity levels by accepting non-core, low-margin work had significantly eroded profitability and strained relationships with traditional lenders, creating a turnaround challenge that required both operational repositioning and creative capital solutions.
The Challenge:
The company faced a severe cash flow crisis driven by delayed invoice payments and outstanding change orders from a top client, squeezing liquidity precisely when operational stability was most critical. Wells Fargo, not serving as senior lender, converted the company’s longstanding equipment line into term debt and declined to extend further credit—effectively withdrawing a critical capital source during a vulnerable period. Financial performance had deteriorated significantly in 2021 and 2022, with revenue, EBITDA, and debt service coverage dramatically reduced due to low- or no-margin contracts accepted during the COVID downturn to maintain activity and workforce. While management had since exited underperforming contracts and refocused on profitable core business segments—creating a compelling turnaround opportunity—the near-term financial profile showed distress that made traditional lenders unwilling to provide the working capital and equipment financing necessary to stabilize operations and capitalize on new high-margin opportunities like wind farm contracts requiring specialized crane equipment.
Solution:
First National Capital recognized that beneath the distressed financial metrics lay a fundamentally capable construction business with valuable specialized assets and improving operational trajectory that simply needed patient capital and flexible financing to complete its turnaround. Rather than providing a single transaction, FNC structured three separate equipment financing deals across four schedules over a 10-month period, totaling nearly $20 million and demonstrating ongoing partnership through multiple phases of the recovery. The first transaction was a $4.9 million crane sale-leaseback that provided immediate liquidity to stabilize the balance sheet and address urgent working capital needs without requiring asset disposition or operational disruption. Shortly after, FNC funded $2.25 million for the purchase of two new cranes tied to a newly awarded wind farm contract, enabling the company to pursue high-margin specialized work without depleting cash reserves or seeking additional outside financing that would have been unavailable from traditional sources. Most recently, FNC arranged a $10 million bridge loan secured by cranes, two aircraft, and various unencumbered equipment, delivering substantial additional working capital and financial flexibility to navigate invoice timing issues and position the company for continued improvement. This multi-transaction partnership enabled the family-owned business to survive a severe cash flow crisis, execute its strategic refocus on profitable core work, and emerge stronger with the equipment and liquidity necessary to capitalize on infrastructure and energy opportunities aligned with its specialized crane-intensive capabilities.
It All Begins With A Conversation
We listen. We live out-of-the-box. We solve problems. And we get deals done. Let’s do this.
