Also known as an equity sweetener. A warrant or an option to buy equity, attached to certain debt, usually debt that is used to finance leveraged acquisitions or management buyouts. Equity kickers are often used in mezzanine financing transactions where the lender receives equity interests in the borrower as an additional financial reward for making loans. Often, equity kickers are structured as conditional rewards, so that the lender only receives its equity if the borrower's business meets certain specified performance goals.