Cross border transactions
Tomasz Wozniak 
February 28, 2023
Tomasz Wozniak
February 28, 2023 We launched Holocene to create a platform where cross border project and real estate financing is easily accessible. The idea was that the funding’s country of origin does not have to be the same as the location of the project. We saw a clear gap in the market and decided to pursue it. One year later we are lucky to work on projects in six continents (Antarctica, perhaps we will see you in 2024?) and collaborate with funding partners in over 100 countries.
For cross-border transactions we focus on two aspects:
We help our clients benefit by navigating across these two scenarios to secure the most competitive financing packages, not only within their home market but globally.
The first aspect of cross-border transactions concerns the global availability of capital. Project owners are no longer restricted to obtain funding from their local financing partners so when structuring a finance package for our clients we look at global capital solutions. This is especially useful if your project happens to be in the country where availability of capital is somehow limited. Switzerland is a good example of how that works. Despite the long standing tradition of private banking, it is not easy to finance new projects in Switzerland, especially when considering transactions that require some “specialist” or private capital. Outside of Switzerland however there are plenty of capital providers that see the Swiss market as one with opportunities and we will work with them to find the best financing package for the client.
The second aspect of cross-border transactions focuses on clients that have existing projects or assets in various geographies. An example might be an individual who owns their main real estate in London but additionally also owns a summer house in Spain and a winter chalet in the French Alps – in this case the client might be able to obtain financing across these three countries from a single lender, making the process of financing significantly easier. The same principle can be applied to companies. We are currently engaging with a company operating within the renewable energy business that is simultaneously delivering projects in multiple jurisdictions – the ability to find a single source of funding for this transaction is what set us apart.
To summarize, Holocene offers our clients a truly global approach when it comes to arranging finance and cross-border transactions are key areas of our activities. We expect these transactions to become even more common in coming years as clients are searching for the most competitive financing terms and lenders and investors are branching out to new jurisdictions in a search for highest quality transactions.