financing services

Albania’s economy and banking sector has come a long way from its communist days. No longer a centralized economy, the private sector is now the engine of growth, with hundreds of thousands of businesses employing most of the working population. The private sector’s financing needs are serviced by a dozen or so private banks, owned by a combination of foreign and local investors. EBRD and IFC also participate in the financing of select projects, and recently there have been isolated instances of financing by a few foreign equity funds.

Nonetheless, the need for funds surpasses availability, and financing continues to be a challenge for most of the businesses (in particular those that are not well established and, even worse, start-ups). The banking sector approach to financing is generally conservative, fundraising through capital markets and issuance of securities is rare. Only recently has syndicated lending gained more footing.

Since its inception, Frost & Fire Consulting’s team has been involved in the banking and financing sector, working with both borrowers and financing institutions. Our combined experiences, on the legal as well as the banking side, make us uniquely qualified to assist your needs with any of the following:

Risk Assessments

We provide tailored risk assessments and strategy, including business plan & feasibility review and analysis; market, business and risk analysis, especially legal & regulatory risk, strategic and reputation risk, and other business risks.

Financing strategy

We analyze your project’s creditworthiness and assess available domestic and international sources of financing available to meet your project’s needs and recommend a financing strategy – be it in the form of syndicated bank deals, co-sponsorships, capital markets solutions, or agency/ECA-backed-financings.

Deal structuring and negotiations

Combining the expertise of our legal and financing teams, we assist with deal structuring as well as support the negotiation of numerous sensitive and complicated financing relationships with best outcomes for our clients, between any possible parties, including private parties, financial institutions and government entities.

Transactions Services

We provide our clients with transaction services advice from deal sourcing, due diligence, valuation analysis, as well as merger and acquisitions support.

Below are some of the most recent engagements in this sector:

  • Assisted with the financing and structuring of the leveraged buyout of the German Hospital International, one of the largest private hospitals in Albania, for a value of seven million euros.
  • Sourced, structured, negotiated and secured a three-million-euro financing for FAFA Hotels & Resorts, a major hotel operator with several hotels in the Adriatic riviera.
  • Assisted CFO Pharma, the biggest pharmaceutical company, in analyzing their financing needs, restructuring of debt, and securing and negotiating a new line of credit for the operational needs of the company.
  • Assisted MUKA sh.p.k. one of the largest garment factories in Albania, with the analysis of their financial situation, investment needs, sourcing crediting options, and securing and negotiating a loan of two million euros.
  • Assisted with the structuring and financing of the acquisition of Green Line, Tirana’s main bus transportation line, sourcing, negotiating and securing a loan of two million euros.
  • Sourced, structured, negotiated and secured a two million financing for the development of a five star 250 room hotel in the Ionian riviera.
  • Was part of the World Bank mission to Azerbaijan aiming to asses the bank’s supervision and intervention process, review the financial reporting practices, restructure non-performing loans, and otherwise develop recommendations and concrete measures for reform implementation, including amendments to the legislation and regulations.
  • Was engaged by the Albanian Bank Association to perform a study on the “Banks’ contribution to economy and society” during years 2004-2016, presenting a comprehensive and rigorous analysis for the 16 banks that operated in Albania’s banking sector, including recommendations for further developments of the banking and financial sector.