In addition to negotiating a suitable purchase agreement, the fifth key component is “funding the transaction,” which provides the means by which the business owner gets paid. Transactions are funded through a combination of debt and equity. On the simple side, a transaction could be a combination of cash and a seller note. On the complex side, funding could be a combination of senior secured bank debt, senior debt, mezzanine debt (a hybrid of debt and equity), preferred stock, warrants, and common equity. The buyer is typically responsible for arranging how the transaction is funded, but the company is ultimately the source of making the funding work. An experienced transaction team is essential, especially when multiple mechanisms are used to fund the transaction.