FOCUSED ON YOU

Berkshire Hills Capital is a finance firm focused on helping businesses solve the complex challenges facing their projects today. We are private finance specialists with merchant banking private equity and debt placement experience. We have acted as both principals and advisers on over 1B USD worth of transactions. Our specialists and underwriters have a combined 80 years worth of experience in both domestic and international project finance.

Over the years, Berkshire Hills Capital has earned a reputation for excellence in the field of private finance and have a particular expertise in real estate, oil, film and energy projects however we will look at any field as we have a wide network of investors and lenders. Fill out our contact form now and one of our specialists and can get back with you today.

Berkshire Hills Capital provides complete and stustainable solutions for small to mid-sized businesses and large corporations. To find out more about how we can help your company, please take a look at some of the projects we have recently completed for our clients.

OUTSTANDING EXPERIENCE

Berkshire Hills Capital is a finance firm focused on helping businesses solve the complex challenges facing their projects today. We are private finance specialists with merchant banking private equity and debt placement experience. We have acted as both principals and advisers on over 1B USD worth of transactions. Our specialists and underwriters have a combined 80 years worth of experience in both domestic and international project finance.

BERKSHIRE HILLS CAPITAL FOLLOWS 5 MAIN PRINCIPLES, WHICH ARE THE FOUNDATION AND KEYS TO OUR SUCCESS:

  • INDEPENDENCE
  • OBJECTIVITY
  • RESULTS
  • COMPETENCE
  • CONFIDENTIALITY

Find out how these core values have helped others successfully navigate the private finance world...

OUR SERVICES

We offer management consultant services to a diverse range of clients in various industries.
Some of our important practice areas are listed below.

Over the years, Berkshire Hills Capital has earned a reputation for excellence in the field of private finance and have a particular expertise in real estate, oil, film and energy projects however we will look at any field as we have a wide network of investors and lenders. Fill out our contact form now and one of our specialists and can get back with you today.

Berkshire Hills Capital provides complete and stustainable solutions for small to mid-sized businesses and large corporations. To find out more about how we can help your company, please take a look at some of the projects we have recently completed for our clients.

Beyond the evermore stringent corporate governance requirements, independent project reviews are both cost effective and good standard practice. Our associates have carried out project reviews on a multitude of projects across a range of industries.

Over the years, Berkshire Hills Capital has earned a reputation for excellence in the field of private finance and have a particular expertise in real estate, oil, film and energy projects however we will look at any field as we have a wide network of investors and lenders. Fill out our contact form now and one of our specialists and can get back with you today.

CORE ENGAGEMENT PROCESS

INITIAL DUE DILIGENCE

(2 - 4 weeks)
  • MOU – Agreement
  • Diligence Checklist (Organizes the Data Room, with Dynamic FAQ/DDQ)
  • Info Exchange – “Data Dump”
  • Kick-Off Meeting (Working Session)
  • Capital Creation Protocol
  • Time & Responsibility / Work Plan

PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT

(4 - 10 weeks)
  • Diligence File Organization
  • Competitive Analysis
  • Market Analysis (Typically with 3rd Party Study)
  • Unit Economics / Proforma
  • Investment Strategy Overview
  • Develop Investor (LP) Strategy
  • Begin Attorney Preparation of PPM
  • Prepare Investor Marketing Materials
  • Prepare Management Presentation
  • Compliance Review & Approval of Marketing Materials

INVESTOR MARKETING & DILIGENCE

(4 - 10 weeks)
  • Investor Solicitations
  • Distribute Marketing Materials
  • Data Room Access & Support
  • Conduct Initial Meetings
  • Receive Indications of Interest
  • Site Visits & Presentations

NEGOTIATION & CLOSING

(4 - 12 weeks)
  • Negotiate Final Investment / Sub-Documents
  • First or Final Closing
  • Additional Closings (if Applicable)

TRANSACTION TIMELINE: UP TO 24 WEEKS DEPENDING ON TRANSACTION+

  • Times are provided as ranges, + / -, some activities overlap and occur simultaneously.
  • All solicitations and offer for the sale of securities will only be conducted by registered representatives of a broker dealer.

OUR CLIENTS

Berkshire Hills Capital specializes in assisting medium to large-scale clients access capital for growth, consolidation, working capital etc. We also advise on business development strategies and management consulting so that once capital is in place,the company can performs to its highest potential. Our min funding is for 10MM USD.

WE HAVE PROUDLY SERVED CLIENTS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF INDUSTRIES, INCLUDING...

  • Real-Estate
  • Film-&-Media
  • Renewable-Energy
  • Oil-and-Gas

FOR EXAMPLE...

Our Capital and capital providers have been involved either as principals or advisers on over 10B USD worth of transactions.
No transaction is too big to add value to and assist if the project makes sense.

Energy-Coal Mining & Process Facilities

Performed due diligence; capital and management restructuring, and immediate interim working capital for operating coal mines and process facilities; provided deal structure for a leveraged buy-out for additional coal mines and coal process facilities with railhead to quadruple distribution capacity; developed capital strategy and capital structure, prepared term sheets for interim capital, operating capital, inventory capital, term capital, credit enhancement, financial guarantees and environmental permit bonding. All of the above funded formed the basis of the capital structure and deal structures. Combined Credits: $180 Million

WIRELESS SYSTEMS INTEGRATION

The client provided a critical satellite link to Brazil's largest bank for low cost wireless data solutions, encryption, and related services. Provided due diligence, structured capital requirements from focused marketing model to facilitate non-recurring and infrastructure cost and working capital. Requirements: provided capital and credit term sheets for institutional rated financial guarantees (Euro/US dollars), political and capital risk insurance, and consortium of funding banks; negotiated strategic alliances; arranged outside legal counsel, accountancy and other professionals. Capital and other institutional requirements: $175 Million

ENTERTAINMENT/THEATRICAL

Negotiated and structured financing requirements for three full-length feature film slate for theatrical release, including, but not limited to acquisition of scripts, rights, title and interest; structured capital debt for pre-production, production and post production and distribution. Negotiated deal structure for domestic and foreign distribution with print/advertising budget. Combined credit requirements: $135 Million

DEVELOPING WORLD INFRASTRUCTURE

Performed due diligence and structured a capital proposal to finance a toll motorway for a Middle Eastern country which included agreements for debt guarantees from their government and central bank. Prepared capital/debt term sheets; provided capital structuring, credit facilities, legal strategy, jurisdiction and security interests (lien perfection) through government intermediaries, and the agent/lead bank. Combined credits proposed, which included AAA S&P rated institutional guarantees, political insurance and a consortium of multinational banks for funding: $350 Million

TRANSPORTATION

Provided marketing analysis, marketing and economic models and capital planning: strategy, structure for financing a start-up commuter airline. Prepared capital term sheets for AA S&P rated institutional guarantees in support of the credit facilities, aircraft purchase/leases, fuel and vendor purchasing and working capital; assisted in resolving jurisdictional issues for FAA licensing requirements; retained legal counsel, lobbyist, accountants, and other professionals as needed. Combined credit requirements: $175 Million

OTHER INDUSTRIES

Telecommunications; Energy: co-generation, alternative fuels, Oil and Gas, exploration and drilling; Food Processing and Distribution: startup and reorganization; Healthcare: reorganization and acquisition; Real Estate: acquisition and development: resort, commercial, industrial; Special Situations: reorganization and restructuring, domestic and foreign; Non-profit: structure and funding; Institutional Capital Credit Funding and Capital Surplus Placement, domestic and foreign.

*Our new minimum funding request amount is 10MM USD.

THE TEAM

Simon Sandoval, Managing Director

Mr. Sandoval has been a leader in the business development and capital raising fields for close to 15 years. As head of project finance and business development, he has participated in close to 1B USD in transactions as either principal or advisor focusing on cross border deals. He has extensive experience working with both family offices and more institutional clients and has recently transitioned into private equity in Latin America. He sits on the board of Livento, a US based hedge fund with offices in Prague, Bogota and NYC, and is establishing a 100MM USD real estate fund focused on distressed properties in Latin America and the Caribbean. He is fluent in Spanish and English and did his undergraduate and post-graduate studies in business administration at Richmond College and Heriot-Watt University in the UK respectively.

Sharon Tang, MBA, MS

Ms. Tang has been a Wall Street stockbroker for the last 30+ years and has specialized in taking Chinese companies public on the NASDAQ and NYSE exchanges. Mrs. Tang's expertise is international as well as she has access to several Chinese investors interested in investing in international projects, specifically the European Union. Ms. Tang is a Managing Partner with J. Streicher in New York City. Among the many marquee clients Mrs. Tang has worked with is Alibaba, the most successful Chinese company ever listed on a foreign exchange board. Ms. Tang holds her FINRA Series 7, 24 and 63 and is fluent in English and Mandarin.

Irving Alfredo Gonzalez Esqueda, CPA, MBA, MF

Irving has served for more of 38 years in several types of companies as privates, public and global, in areas of finance and accounting some as Elizondo Cantu, State Energy Company (named as CFE), Ernst & Young, State Government of Nuevo Leon, Bachoco, CYDSA. Wherever, he has given experience, assurance and compromise. Also, he has been responsible to works with teams to focus them to implement strategies to give results according its planning strategy. In the last 5 years he has advised several companies in the achievement of their strategic goals of sales and net profit with satisfactoriness results, also improving their high management and implementing corporate governance.

He has studies from the ITESM as certified public account (1982), Master in Business Administration (1984) and Master in Finance (1997). Also, he has several Diplomas, some of them as: Corporate Governance (2017), IFRS (2015), Government Accounting (2013), Supply Chain Management (1999), Stock Market Broker (1995), Performance Improvement Process (1993), Finance (1992). He has been Member of the Mexican Institute of public accountants (IMCP) and the Institute of public accountants of Nuevo Leon (ICPNL).

Irving has developed some projects as financial risk regulation auditing, financial risk advisory, Basilea II assessments, credit risk porfolio assessment. All of them in the financial sector in companies as Citigroup-Banamex, Protego Stock Brokers, Finamex Stock Brokers, Sociedad Hipotecaria Federal, Interacciones Stock Brokers, Bank of Tokio, American Express Bank, Bajio Bank, Principal Pension Funds, Banamex Insurane and Pension Funds, Santander Insurance & Stock Brokers, Afore MetLife Pension Funds, Prudencial Insurance, HSBC Insurance & Pension Funds, Invercap Stock Brokers.

Norma Canales

Norma Canales has experience in project structuring and Investment Banking with a focus on energy, manufacturing and F&B projects in Latin America. She is also a specialist in Private Equity in the region starting her career at JP Morgan Chase and Morgan Stanley in their NYC offices. Norma is currently the director of the supply chain committee at Cluster Minero Petrolero de Coahuila A.C. She is leading the group, working directly with Mexican companies to develop their potential to become certified suppliers of the largest O&G international companies as well as advising large foreign companies in their process of entering the Mexican market adhering to ESG protocols. Norma is originally from Saltillo, Coahuila, a regular columnist at Forbes Magazine, and a trained economist from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Yacine Derradji

Yacine Derradji joined Berkshire Hills Capital Group in 2021 as an Associate where he will be covering a diverse spectrum of industries and functional matters in Southeast Asia. Graduated from the European Business School (EBS), Yacine Derradji started his career within the investment banking and private equity industry. He co-founded and built three innovative ventures in the FinTech, RealTech and Ecommerce space: Acudeen, Madhouse and Resellee. Yacine has almost 5 years of experience in private equity advisory and management consulting. He has been involved in 9 fundraising and advisory mandates across Southeast Asia. Yacine is a French National and is fluent in English and French.

ALLAN ROWLEY, FCA

Mr. Rowley is a Corporate Executive with 20+ years' experience in public and private growth businesses. Mr. Rowley is a Chartered Accountant with international experience of raising finance, Initial Public Offerings, public company reporting (on both the US and UK stock exchanges), strategic planning, corporate governance, investor relations, mergers and acquisitions, international tax. He has been CFO and CEO across a variety of sectors including: technology, healthcare, financial services, fin tech, recruitment, online retail, mining and real estate. He has led teams across the UK, Europe, North America, Latin America, the UAE, China and Japan. Mr. Rowley graduated from Aberystwyth University College of Wales with a BSc and Master of Philosophy. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions

IS THERE AN APPLICATION FEE?

Applying for pre-approval from any of our lenders and /or investors is at no charge to the client. We do not charge any application fees that you might encounter with other firms. You have the flexibility to pre-apply through us and, upon conceptual approval and interest from one or more lenders or investors; we receive authoriza- tion to proceed. In the case of debt arrangement there are costs involved in doing due diligence as well as additional third parsty expenses depending on the type of project (real estate, energy, infrastructure etc).

With equity there are fees payable to cover investor due diligence, packaging, presenting and underwriting the deal to make sure it is compliant and investment grade. We do not proceed with projects whereby there is no interest from our syndicate lenders, equity investors or other capital sources. The expenses and costs (As opposed to fees which we will cover further below) are non-negotiable and payable upon execution of our agreement. We will direct clients as to which costs and expenses are payable to third parties and which must be paid to us directly and at the time of engagement.

WHAT ARE THE BASIC REQUIREMENTS FOR PROJECT FINANCE?

For short-term financing, such as working capital lines of credit, trade finance or venture finance bridge loans (any capital required for less than 3 years) please ask us and we can go into specific criteria based on the project size, type and field. For long term debt, equity etc we have varying criteria, again depending on the type of project.

WHAT TYPES OF CAPITAL (ASSET CLASSES) CAN BE ARRANGED?

Our specialization is arranging both debt and equity components of a project, but we recognize that some companies have ambitious business plans that call for more debt than they can reasonably obtain. For others, they would rather not rely on loans when equity investors might be willing to provide patient capital for the potential upsides from their future exit.

Accordingly, we can arrange debt, equity and various other forms of non-bank finance such as quasi-equity (has some elements of equity, such as more flexible payment schedules, plus some of debt), convertible debt, mezzanine debt, revenue contracts, M&A/buyouts, and more. We are also capable of securing early or seed- stage financing to conduct feasibility studies either through angel investors, impact investors or development finance institutions offering zero- or low-interest (concessionary) loans, forgivable loans or grants.

HOW DO WE GET STARTED?

Is your project is fairly close to bankable, ready for financing, and invest-able? If you are reasonably well organized, prepared, and thorough in planning and presenting your project's strengths and risks, we ask that you contact us after summarizing the basic parameters of your project.

If you know deep down there's more work to do, the key is to get started early and plan in sufficient time, assessing your team's current strengths and any essential experience missing from your team.

HOW LONG DOES IT TAKE? HOW SOON WILL I KNOW IF MY LOAN APPLICATION IS APPROVED?

Initial approval validation that the project is well qualified for reasonably attractive debt finance usually takes a few weeks to a month. How long to get a check written? Longer. Depends on the desired source of capital as well as the amount. If from a developmental finance institution, loans can take 4-6 months, some even more, to secure the loan funds. BHC and its network has a proven track record of reducing the time it takes by roughly one third often the difference of many months than if you attempt to go it alone.

Fast-track programs are available in most regions. Still count on at least a quarter or so, depending on your state of readiness. Loans get bogged down in legal challenges, due diligence issues, or other factors that we can safely help you avoid.

We offer an assessment tool or intake form that takes out most of the guesswork it helps you determine then summarize the project's strengths, improvement opportunities and keys to success. This thoughtful and clear approach asks you to fill out then summarize your project and put the main elements on the table for open and honest feedback from one or more selected investors and or lenders. This collaborative approach is thanks to a strategic alliance with development bank representatives and open channels of communication with private sources.

Some of the best and lowest-cost sources of capital (such as government-sponsored international development loans), offering the lowest interest rates and most reason- able terms, are also quite interested in the details. Development banks are about the same just as detail-oriented and thorough with slightly higher interest rates.

Private investors, debt or equity, vary greatly in their due diligence and contracting. Angels with a checkbook can make a decision within a month or so, but that's generally the exception. Most institutional investors take 6 months ( and insist on compliance being in place), more or less, with significant amounts of time (after the first 2-4 months of assessment and Q&A) taken up by handling policy clearances, the details of legal matters (such as perfecting liens against assets, asking for bank verifications, or obtaining audited financial statements) and other documentation.

Sometimes a short-term bridge loan can be used to unlock funding in advance of the disbursement once the investment commitment letter has been obtained.

WHAT DOES BHC CHARGE?

Let's discuss what work is needed, and who will do what, before attempting to pin- point appropriate fees-for-service. We rarely let money stand in the way of supporting a project with developmental impacts and are flexible on success fees to a point.

That said, we typically charge industry-standard rates for fundraising, with our customary fees equal to roughly half the formula used by our peers, plus the aforementioned expenses and costs that are part and parcel of the process.

Under very specific criteria it may be possible to forgo these costs and expenses until closing, or have them picked up by the investor or lender, but these are limited to US and Canadian only and for companies with specific revenues, collateral and credit in tow.

Berkshire Hills Capital

Manhattan Office
17 State Street, Suite 4000
New York, NY 10004
Tel: 1 (661) 452-6040
Email: projects@bhcapitalnetwork.com

Singapore Office
7 Temasek Boulevard #12-07
Suntec Tower One
Singapore 038987

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