It began in a private dining room in South Yarra.
The fundamentals were strong. Land owned, debt-free title, a genuine legacy play. Constrained and heavily regulated supply, massive and growing demand, a long time for competitors to get established.
But it was an alternative investment in a niche market. Cash intensive to build. Requiring specialists to operate. And a limited pool of capital that would even look at it.
Strategy
The gap to close was between the project sponsor and the sophistication of the capital stack he needed to interface with.
‘Just let me build it’ doesn’t stack when you want someone to go on risk for $50M+ in a niche play. Where the fund was managing over a billion dollars and running in 4th or 5th gear, the sponsor was in 1st – and you can’t go from 1st to 4th. We had to get into 2nd, then 3rd.
Action
Two months of near-daily contact, working both ends of the deal.
With the sponsor: validating the market, the regulations across state and federal lines, the leadership team, and the long-term economics. Then finding a truly independent expert who had led this industry and delivered it themselves – because from a funder’s perspective, what wouldn’t someone say to get their dream built?
With the fund: giving my internal contact what they needed to bring it to the Investment Committee. Investors want to know three things – how much do you want, what are you going to do with it, when do I get it back. We could answer all three, and it held up to scrutiny.
I matched the client with the first fund I contacted.
Outcome
“We’re in. Let’s do the term sheet.”
$58M in terms, on a proposition that previously had no takers.
Then the sponsor received an offer he couldn’t refuse – to step away entirely, rather than carry significant debt through a multi-year build. From day one we’d discussed what generational wealth and legacy meant to him. The offer covered all of it, and he took it.
Some of my clients are transforming empires. Some are focused on a single transaction. All are valid.
If there’s a significant opportunity on your horizon, but you lack the bandwidth, connections, experience or capital to realise it alone – that’s the conversation I’m here for.
