Most medical practice owners hit the same wall. They go to their bank. The bank reviews the deal. The bank gets to goodwill — the patient list, the established referrals, the brand built over decades — and the policy tightens.
At Black Mountain Financial, we work across more than 100 lenders — including non-bank lenders and specialist credit providers with specific appetite for medical practice finance. We don't pitch you one product. We find where your deal fits.
A standard business loan is secured against tangible assets — property, plant, equipment. In most practice acquisitions, the largest component of value is intangible: the patient base, the relationships, the goodwill built over years by the outgoing principal.
Banks typically restrict their lending against goodwill — sometimes significantly. If a practice is priced with 70% of its value in goodwill and your bank will only lend against 50% of that component, you're short. That's not a reflection of the practice's quality. It's a lending policy constraint. Illustrative example, deal-dependent and subject to lender assessment.
Other lenders read the same deal differently. They look at Medicare billing history, patient retention rates, the stability of referral relationships, and the cash flow those generate. They lend against what the business actually earns — not just what it owns on paper. This is where access to the full market matters.
Buying an established GP clinic, dental practice, specialist rooms, or allied health business. Includes goodwill lending, equipment, and fit-out where applicable.
Learn more →Restructuring existing practice debt, consolidating facilities, or improving terms as the business has grown.
Learn more →Clinical and diagnostic equipment, including high-value imaging and procedure suites.
Covering operational cash flow, especially for practices managing a mixed billing environment or NDIS/WorkCover payment cycles.
Premises purchase for owner-occupiers, development of specialist facilities, or investment in healthcare real estate.
Learn more →Can the practice generate sufficient income, post your drawings, to service the proposed debt? This is where lenders differ. Some assess on declared net profit. Others work from cash flow — which can produce a materially different result for practices that invest back into the business.
What proportion of the goodwill component will the lender fund? This varies significantly by lender and by practice type. Illustrative figures — entirely deal-dependent and subject to lender assessment — might range from 50% at one institution to 70–80% at another for the same practice. For qualified practitioners, some lenders will fund up to 100% of the purchase price including fitout, where the practice's billing history and serviceability profile are strong.
Equipment, fit-out, and property are assessed separately. Combined with goodwill, these make up the total security and lending position.
Lenders will want to understand the transition plan — how patients and referrers are introduced to the incoming principal, and over what period.
Most lenders want 2–3 years of practice financials, BAS statements, and Medicare data. Practices with shorter histories have fewer options but still have options.
Black Mountain Financial holds an Australian Credit Licence and works across a panel of 100+ lenders — major banks, regional banks, non-bank lenders, and private credit providers. Our role is to identify which ones are right for your deal — based on the structure of your transaction, your security position, and the profile of the practice — and present your file in a way that gives it the best chance of approval on terms that actually work for you.
George Popadalis has spent 20+ years across banking & finance, including time inside the credit system before moving to the broking side. He runs every file personally. There is no junior handoff.
We're based in Canberra, and work with GP, dental, specialist, and allied health practice owners across the ACT, regional NSW, and nationally for the right deal. Practice acquisition is where most conversations start.
If you're earlier in the process — you're considering a practice acquisition but haven't mapped your financials, don't know what a lender will want to see, or aren't sure how to assess whether a practice is serviceable — that's a normal place to start. We've put together a guide for practitioners at this stage, covering the acquisition process step by step and what a lender actually looks for.
Want a number right now? Our GP Income & Practice / JV Calculator models your real take-home from gross billings and service fee, and tests whether a practice joint venture covers its overhead.
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If you're considering buying a practice, refinancing an existing one, or restructuring your practice debt — a 20-minute conversation is a useful starting point. No obligation, no sales pitch. We reply within 24 hours.
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