Private Credit Foundation

Course overview

This two-day foundation-level course provides a comprehensive introduction to the private credit market, designed for professionals working in private credit teams. Participants will gain a solid grounding in the structure, strategies, and investment processes that define this investment strategy, with practical insights into risk analysis, deal structuring, and market dynamics.

Led by experienced practitioners, the course combines technical content with real-world case studies to help attendees understand how private credit differs from private equity, how deals are sourced and structured, and how market shocks and jurisdictional differences impact investment decisions.

Key topics include

• Overview of Private Credit
  • The private credit market
  • Key stakeholders and their roles
  • Understanding capital structures
  • Differences between private credit and private equity
• Risk
• Credit fundamentals
  • Key considerations in risk analysis
  • Market and competitive position
  • Industry and macroeconomic factors 
  • AI risks and opportunities
• Financing structures
  • Debt capacity, key financial ratios and financial covenants
  • Equity considerations – cash vs implied, enterprise valuations, private equity sponsor position and motivation
• Sourcing opportunities
  • Where private credit opportunities come from 
  • Sponsor opportunities
  • Structuring, risk, deal pricing, levels of involvement required of the lender
  • Case Studies
  • Sponsor-backed deal 
  • Sponsor-backed deal - Refinancing 
• Deal structuring and legal documentation
  • Credit agreements 
  • Principal types of transaction security
• Private Credit Strategies
  • Including: Direct lending, Mezzanine, Infrastructure debt, venture debt, distressed, structured - CLOs
• Financial instruments
  • Including: bank loans, preferred shares, unsecured notes, NAV
• Dealing with market shocks
• European private credit
• Structuring solutions
  • Case Studies

What will delegates take away?

• A solid understanding of the private credit landscape, including how it differs from private equity and the roles of key stakeholders.
• Practical knowledge of credit risk assessment, including financial ratios, covenants, and macroeconomic factors.
• Insight into deal sourcing and structuring, with exposure to both sponsor-backed and non-sponsor-led transactions.
• Familiarity with legal documentation and transaction security, through case studies and working examples.
• An overview of private credit strategies and instruments, such as direct lending, mezzanine, infrastructure debt, and CLOs.
• Awareness of jurisdictional differences across Europe, and how these impact deal execution.
• Real-world lessons from experienced practitioners, including best practices and common pitfalls.

Benefits to employers

• Building internal expertise in private credit, helping firms expand or strengthen their credit capabilities. 
• Improving deal execution quality, as team members gain a deeper understanding of structuring, documentation, and risk. 
• Enhancing cross-functional collaboration, especially between investment, legal, and finance teams. 
• Accelerating onboarding and development of junior professionals, reducing ramp-up time and increasing confidence.

FAQs about this course

Course Director

John Gilligan

Course Director

John Gilligan worked in private equity and venture capital for more than 30 years before focusing on teaching and impact investing. He began his career at 3i in 1988 and later spent over two decades as a corporate finance and M&A partner at Deloitte and BDO.

John is Director of the Oxford Saïd Finance Lab at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, where he has taught more than 1,500 MBA students, lawyers and economists. He designed and raised Big Issue Invest’s debt funds and serves on their Credit Committee; Big Issue Invest is one of the UK’s oldest and largest social impact investors. He is also a Non-Executive Director of Finstreet, a fintech alternatives marketplace based in Abu Dhabi. John is co-author of four editions of Private Equity Demystified, a textbook that has sold thousands of copies globally and is frequently cited in academic literature.

CPD accreditation

This course is CPD accredited by the CPD Certification Service for 13 hours. By attending this course, you will receive a digital certificate from Diplomasafe. This certificate allows you to share and save your new CPD accredited qualification on LinkedIn, adding instantly verifiable credentials and strengthening your professional profile.