How to Raise Cash From a Large Listed Stake: Every Option Compared

There are eight common routes, in two families: three ways to sell the shares, and five ways to keep them, four of which raise money against the shares while the fifth protects their value. The sales are an open-market sale, worked through the order book over days or weeks; a block trade, in which a bank or principal buys the whole line, or a large part of it, in one negotiated transaction; and an accelerated bookbuild, in which a bank places the shares with institutional investors over a few hours, often overnight.

The four financings are an exchangeable bond, a bond the holder issues that investors can swap for the shares; a margin loan from a broker against shares held in a brokerage account; a Lombard loan from a private bank against a pledged portfolio; and a non-recourse stock loan, a term loan secured on the shares in which the lender’s claim is limited to the shares themselves. The collar raises no cash on its own: it combines a bought put option with a sold call option to set a floor and a cap on the shares’ value, and is usually paired with a loan.

The table compares the eight routes on five points. Each row links to a fuller guide, and the sections below it walk through how to choose.

If the money is needed within days, a block trade, or a loan from an institution that already holds the shares, is usually the quickest route; an exchangeable bond, a new stock loan and a collar all take longer to put in place. A block trade is agreed and printed as a single transaction and then settles on the exchange’s standard cycle, commonly T+1 or T+2. An accelerated bookbuild is launched and priced within hours, but it needs an open market window and enough institutional demand on the day.

An open-market sale of a large stake is only as fast as the order book allows: selling more than a modest share of daily volume moves the price, so a big line can take days, weeks or longer to complete. An exchangeable bond needs bookrunning banks, an offering document and a trustee or paying agent before launch, although the bonds themselves are usually marketed and priced within a day.

Margin and Lombard credit is quick where the shares are already in an account at that broker or bank, and slower where a new relationship has to be opened. A new stock loan runs through a defined sequence, from term sheet and know-your-customer (KYC) checks to loan agreement, custody account and funding, set out for Black Haven at the end of this guide. A collar needs a derivatives dealer, trading documentation and, where the shares are already pledged, the lender’s consent.

Sales are public by design, while loans are usually private, although the pledge behind a loan can still be disclosable. An open-market sale and a block trade both print to the exchange, an accelerated bookbuild is usually announced at launch and again on pricing, and an exchangeable bond is a public offering with its own offering document and announcements. Any of them can also take the holder across a substantial-shareholding threshold, which triggers a separate notification under the rules of the market of listing, as covered in do block trades have to be disclosed.

A loan is a bilateral contract, so the borrowing itself is not announced, but the pledge can be. Several markets require a substantial shareholder’s pledge to be reported, and directors face their own rules. In the United Kingdom, for example, Article 19(7)(a) of the UK Market Abuse Regulation (UK MAR) makes the pledging of financial instruments by a person discharging managerial responsibilities, or a person closely associated with one, a notifiable transaction; a pledge made in connection with depositing the instruments in a custody account need not be notified unless and until it is designated to secure a specific credit facility. A collar is a derivative position, and in many markets derivatives count towards disclosable holdings and are notifiable dealings for directors. The rules differ by market and change from time to time, so they are best mapped before a route is chosen.

A fall costs a seller nothing once the shares are sold, but it tests every route that keeps them. Under a margin loan or a Lombard loan, a fall below the required cover triggers a call for more collateral or a repayment; if the call is not met the lender can sell the shares, and the borrower remains liable for any shortfall. Under an exchangeable bond, investors will not exchange below the exchange price, so the issuer must repay the bonds in cash at maturity while holding shares worth less: a fall turns the bond into ordinary debt that has to be repaid or refinanced.

Under a non-recourse stock loan there is no top-up call, the lender’s remedy if the loan is not repaid is the pledged shares, and the borrower’s loss is capped at the collateral; limited-recourse structures sit between that and full recourse. A collar sets a floor at the put strike, which protects the value of the shares, and of any loan secured on them, at the cost of the upside above the call strike. For a holder whose stake is most of their wealth, which of these outcomes is acceptable is often the deciding question.

Black Haven provides two of these routes: stock loans and block trades. Black Haven Investments Limited is a Bahamas-based institutional investment firm providing stock loans and block trades against listed shares on 48 exchanges in 44 countries, alongside structured capital solutions and principal investments. Its stock loans can be non-recourse, limited-recourse or full-recourse, with tenors of 12 to 60 months and early repayment permitted after a lock-out period agreed for each facility, typically 12 to 36 months. On a block, it can take all or part of the line onto its own book and guarantee a price to the seller, and a block can be paired with a stock loan to the acquirer, the line serving immediately as collateral.

Indicative terms for a stock loan need three things: the borrowing entity; the issuer and the number of shares to be pledged; and a recent depository or brokerage statement showing the holding. The closing sequence is then fixed: term sheet countersigned, KYC, loan agreement signed, custody account opened, funding notice, shares delivered into the custody account and loan funded, with the lender’s control over the account taking effect only at the same time as the loan is paid out. This guide is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice, and independent advice should be taken on any particular stake and market.