Ready money. (Wall street west).

Would-be buyers of businesses grouse loudly that financing isn't there, or if it is, the terms just don't pencil out. Money is tight and expensive.

But Fleet Capital, an arm of FleetBoston Financial Co. which operates out of Sherman Oaks, is doing more business than ever financing middle-market corporate acquisitions, said Michael Adler, managing director of about 60 professionals.

Why? Fleet Capital prefers to lend on a company's assets, not its cash flow. "We have been seeing more than our fair share of business, especially in the last month," said Adler. "Companies, even larger companies that have traditionally been able to get unsecured financing, now they are coming to us."

In the sometimes-arcane realm of business acquisitions, most lenders extend money on earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. In flush years, some lenders will extend four times EBITDA to finance an acquisition, Adler said. Now lenders will lend only 2.5 times EBITDA, if they will lend at all. Under this framework, borrowers must put down a much larger portion of equity to buy a company, sometimes 50 percent or more.

However, some manufacturing businesses may have so-so cash flow, but substantial assets, such as buildings and equipment. Using asset-based financing, Fleet Capital is often willing to lend for such industrial acquisitions.

"We will lend for just a couple of points above LIBOR (the London Inter-Bank Offered Rate)," said Adler. At prevailing rates, that translates into single-digit interest financing, a far better deal than the double-digit world of junk bonds. And as the loan is secured by assets, a lower down payment is required.