The board of embattled debt buyer Pioneer Credit expects that the takeover of the company by private equity investor Carlyle Group will be completed by May.Pioneer has been struggling with a capital management crisis since September last year, when it announced that it was at risk of breaching a financial covenant under its senior financing facility.The cause of the problem was a material difference in the company's expected net profit for 2018/19 due to the classification and measurement of its financial assets at amortised cost. The application of amortised cost to more than 900 debt portfolios changed the timing of when earnings are recognised in the accounts. The change explained the fall in earnings from A$17.6 million in 2017/18 to $4.3 million for the year to June.The fall in earnings triggered a breach of the company's financial covenants under its senior financing facility.When the company released its 2018/19 financial report late in September, it reported that events of default had occurred and that it had entered into a standstill agreement with its senior financiers, Bankwest and Westpac, giving the company some breathing space before lenders take action.The 2018/19 financial report included a statement that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the company would be able to achieve a restructuring of its debt, a recapitalisation through an equity raising or realisation of value by way of sale of some of its assets.However, the company's latest financial report - for the six months to December - says there is "material uncertainty related to going concern".In December, Pioneer announced that it had entered into a scheme implementation agreement with Robin BidCo Pty Ltd and Robin HoldCo Holdings Ltd, which are both part of The Carlyle Group.The interim financial report says that if Carlyle gains control of Pioneer on or before September 20, which is the maturity date of the initial term under a "replacement facility", the maturity date will be extended.If the Carlyle deal does not go ahead Pioneer will have until that date to refinance about $165 million of debt."If the scheme does not proceed and no superior proposal emerges, Pioneer may experience funding challenges and its shares may trade at a significantly lower price than the scheme total cash consideration," the company said.The company struggled during the December half, largely because of constraints imposed on financing activity follow the covenant breach. It has also incurred significant costs under the standstill agreement with its lenders and also the cost of conducting the change of control process.It sold its consumer loan book during the half, at a loss of $2.3 million.The company made a loss of $8.7 million, compared with a profit of $3.7 million in the previous corresponding period.On the operational side, the company made debt purchases worth $37.7 million during the half - up 27 per cent on the previous corresponding period. Net cash flow (excluding consumer loans) was up 5.4 per cent to $16.2 million.The debt book grew 15 per cent to $334 million since June last year.