Built to last. Don’t let a bad market force your hand.
Indian markets are down over 12% since January. The rupee has slipped past 95 to the dollar. Geopolitical tensions have added a layer of uncertainty that no model can fully price in. Over 30 SEBI-approved companies, representing c. Rs. 31,000 crores of planned issuances, have withdrawn or stepped back in FY26 alone. PE multiples have compressed. Strategic investors are slower to commit.
In such situations, the normal instinct is, to wait. And that is understandable. But waiting, in itself, is not neutral. Businesses do not pause because markets do. Capex does not defer itself. Competitors with capital continue to deploy and consolidate. Every quarter of delay is a transfer of advantage, and more often than not, it is irreversible.
The real question, then, is not whether to raise capital. It is how.
In a dislocated equity market, dilution is no longer just expensive. It is structurally inefficient. Valuations compress, often untethered from fundamentals, and negotiating power shifts decisively to capital providers. Raising equity becomes a function of timing your business cycle with market cycles, and in today’s environment, that intersection is misaligned.
Structured credit is not a workaround. It is a deliberate strategy.
Unlike equity, which is episodic, sentiment-driven, and subject to market windows; structured credit is engineered along the cash flow profile of the business. Capital is deployed against defined milestones, repayment is aligned to actual cash flow visibility, moratoriums bridge ramp-up periods, and covenants are tailored to operating realities.
Lenders are also increasingly willing to underwrite against enterprise value and future cash flows, not just hard asset collateral, extending the instrument to asset-light businesses that were historically shut out. Structured credit does not eliminate dilution. But, it gives you control over when you accept it, deferring equity to a market that reflects what has actually been built, not the anxiety of the moment.
The trade-off is explicit: a defined cost of capital now, in exchange for preserved ownership and future optionality, but without sacrificing growth.
The question to ask yourself is this –
If your business generates predictable cash flows, has a clear growth thesis, and you believe the next 3 to 5 years will be your best, why give away equity at today’s compressed valuations?
Raise structured credit. Execute. Then go to equity markets from a position of demonstrated strength.
At SCA, we structure capital solutions built for the real operating environment, not just the ideal one.
StructuredCredit CapitalMarkets PromoterFinance