Making Committed DDTLs Work for Buy-and-Builds
Add-ons now account for the majority of buyout activity. Here’s what sponsors need to know about committed DDTLs. In Configure’s latest article with Mergers & Acquisitions, Managing Director Mark Birkett unpacks why committed delayed-draw term loans (DDTLs) have become a go-to tool for buy-and-build strategies and where the fine print can turn optionality into constraint.
As lenders grow more protective of undrawn commitments, the gap between how DDTLs are modeled and how they behave in practice is widening. The sponsors who invest time upfront in sizing, economics, and draw conditions will be best positioned to move quickly as M&A activity picks back up.
Read the full article at Mergers & Acquisitions.
About Mark Birkett
Mark joined Configure in 2025 as our first banker in Chicago, bringing over two decades of experience supporting private equity firms and middle-market borrowers across a range of debt products, including those supporting acquisitions, growth, recapitalizations, and refinancings.
During his career, Mark has underwritten and advised clients in structuring and executing more than $6 billion of financings comprising senior debt, subordinated debt, structured capital, and non-control equity.
Before joining Configure, Mark was a Senior Managing Director at Hilco Corporate Finance. Prior to joining Hilco Corporate Finance, Mark was a Managing Director in the Leveraged Finance Group at William Blair. Previously, he served as Partner and Managing Director at Livingstone Partners, a lower middle-market investment bank. He was also an Underwriter at GE Antares Capital.
Mark earned his MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and his B.S.B.A. in Finance from Villanova University.