The borrower’s dossier
Deal box · EUR 1M to 50M+
Jurisdictions · EU · CH · UK
From enquiry to indicative terms.
Enquire
Send the project, the asset, the amount and term sought, and the intended exit. A short brief is enough to begin.
Qualify
A principal reads the brief, checks it against the deal box, and follows up on anything missing.
Structure
Our internal review works out the proposed security, the mortgage, the guarantees, and the conditions to be met before investors fund.
Terms
You receive indicative terms in writing, with the proposed structure set out. We then take the file to the investors in our network that suit it.
Indicative terms are subject to investor approval, due diligence and final documentation. Funding is not guaranteed.
Structured around your project.
See our approachEvery facility carries security: a first-rank mortgage, a personal guarantee, a bank guarantee, or a combination set per deal.
Facilities run months to a few years, and each one is structured around a clear exit, identified from the start.
The partner who takes on your file structures it and stays with it to closing, so every question goes straight to the person who knows your file.
Watson AM arranges short to mid-term financing, most often for real estate and hospitality projects across Europe. Every project must be asset-backed, so the investors who fund it hold proper security.
We assess the opportunity, structure the financing and set out the exit before indicative terms are issued. We then approach suitable investors in our network, who make their own assessment and the funding decision.
Six ways to structure the facility.
Short-term capital that closes a purchase or refinancing quickly, used while longer-term financing, a sale, or another facility is being arranged. Typically the fastest structure to arrange, since the exit is often already contracted or well advanced, and the facility runs for months rather than years.
Facilities drawn down against progress on a ground-up build or a phased development, so capital is released as the works advance. Drawdowns are tied to inspection or quantity-surveyor sign-off at each stage, keeping exposure matched to what has actually been built rather than what is planned.
Funding to purchase land, a plot ahead of development, or a standing asset, typically drawn at completion to secure the site or the building. Used on its own to close a purchase quickly, or as the first stage of a facility that later converts to development finance once permits are in hand.
Replacing an existing facility with new terms, whether to release equity, extend the timeline, or move ahead of a maturity. Common where a project has de-risked since the original facility was arranged, a valuation has moved, or a sponsor wants to consolidate several facilities into one.
Facilities for renovation, restoration, or other value-add works on an asset already owned, sized against the uplift the works are expected to create. Covers everything from a single conversion to a full restoration of older or listed stock, with drawdowns released against the works completed.
Subordinated capital that sits behind a senior facility in the capital stack, letting a sponsor reduce the equity they put into a deal. Priced for the additional risk it carries relative to the senior tranche, with the security package and repayment order agreed with the senior lender up front.
What we arrange.
A wide asset mix, each project judged on the underlying opportunity and the security behind it.
Hospitality and resort
Hotels to alpine resorts
Multi-unit residential
Apartments and townhouses
Villas and residences
Purchase, restoration, new-build
Land and development
Plots ahead of a ground-up build
Heritage and restoration
Brought back to standard
Student and senior living
Operational, demand-led
Our most common asset types.
The file with few places to go.
Some files arrive only after others have passed. In Geneva, a development the sponsor had chased for almost two years closed once its communal and internal issues were untangled. An Oslo restoration, turned away through conventional channels, was funded once its ownership and paper trail were sorted and presented properly. Both are in the case files, with LTV, term and outcome on record.
A complicated file often has few credible homes: a tangled ownership trail, communal issues to resolve, an unusually long term, or several jurisdictions in a single deal, and most capital providers pass. Watson AM reads the file on its merits, structures the facility around it, and takes it to the investors it suits best.
Why borrowers choose Watson AM.
Financing terms grounded in the transaction.
Before you send us anything, you can read the nine-step diligence process in full, from the legal review through to the notarial registration of the security. Complicated ownership trails and cross-border paperwork are what we structure for, so a project that stalled elsewhere is often still a project worth structuring.
Where a file doesn’t work, you hear it in days, and you hear the reason. We would rather turn a project down in the first week than keep a developer waiting a quarter for an answer that was never coming.
Borrower questions.
Most conversations start with one of these. If yours starts somewhere else, write to us and we’ll take it from there.
What size and type of deals does Watson AM arrange financing for?
We arrange short to mid-term facilities for real estate, with a deal box of EUR 1M to EUR 50M+, across development, construction, acquisition, renovation, and refinancing. Exceptions to that range are considered case by case. Borrowers are typically developers and hospitality operators with strong assets and a clear exit.
Does Watson AM lend its own money?
No. Watson AM is an arranger: we assess the project, structure the financing and present the file to suitable investors in our network. Each investor carries out its own assessment and makes the funding decision, and we coordinate the process through documentation and closing.
What does Watson AM need from a borrower to start?
A short brief: the project, the asset, the amount and term sought, the sponsor's track record, and the intended exit. We read the documentation that moves the deal forward and follow up on anything missing, rather than asking for a full data room up front.
What security will the financing require?
Security is set per deal. Most facilities are secured by a first-rank mortgage registered in the investors' favour as a condition of their funding, and we look for a personal guarantee from the sponsor and/or a bank guarantee where the deal supports it. The proposed structure is worked out with you before indicative terms are issued.