A single loan in which the lead lender sells shares to participant lenders, who fund their portions and take payments through the lead.
The longer version
The lead originates, documents, and services the loan; participants hold participation certificates and rely on the participation agreement for their rights. Borrowers often never interact with participants at all.
Participations are everyday structure for credit unions and community banks managing concentration and legal lending limits. The operational load is document flow: participants need diligence packages, ongoing financials, and servicing reports from the lead.
In Prodeal
Leads run participant document sharing through room and party scoped permissions, so each participant sees its package without exposing the whole deal file.