Sir Patrick Bijou

Please introduce your company and describe your role as Founder and Chairman.

I am the Founder and Chairman of Blackhorse International / Blackhorse Holding LLC, Westpac Trading FZE, and Blackhorse Tec Acquisition Ltd. My work sits in private placement, structured finance, and cross-border capital solutions. I oversee strategy, governance, and final decision-making. I am not involved in the day-to-day execution of every transaction, but I review structure, counterparties, risk exposure, and timing before anything proceeds. My role is to ensure clarity and stability across jurisdictions, including the UK, USA, UAE, and Singapore.

What is your core business model – in-house, third-party, or hybrid?

It is a hybrid model. Core structuring, mandate review, and client strategy stay in-house. Specialist legal, compliance, and technical reviews are handled by approved third-party professionals. This reduces overhead while maintaining control. Every deal follows a documented workflow: mandate review, due diligence, structure design, compliance check, execution pathway, and monitoring.

How do you differentiate in a crowded finance market?

We remove unnecessary complexity. Many deals fail because the structure is unclear. I focus on documentation quality, timeline discipline, and counterparty verification. At Lloyds, when I helped establish the MTN and Private Placement Desk, we increased self-led deals from 4% to 32% by improving the process. That mindset continues.

What sectors do you serve?

Primarily, governments, institutions, and large private entities require structured funding. Over time, my work expanded into advisory roles linked to infrastructure, energy, and institutional capital requirements. I do not serve retail clients.

What services are most in demand?

Private placement structuring. Off-balance-sheet solutions. Debt capital markets advisory. Cross-border capital alignment. Clients approach when traditional routes are too slow or too restrictive.

How do you stay ahead when information moves quickly?

I read primary sources daily. Central bank releases. Regulatory updates. Policy changes. I also rely on direct relationships. Real information comes from people executing transactions, not headlines.

Do you have repeat clients?

Yes. Repeat work comes from reliability. We define scope early. We do not overpromise. We document decisions clearly. Trust is built through predictability.

How do you measure client satisfaction?

Completion rate. Timeline adherence. Post-transaction continuity. If a client returns with another mandate, that is measurable satisfaction.

What post-project support do you provide?

Monitoring and review. Where structures require ongoing oversight, we schedule reporting intervals. Quarterly or milestone-based reviews are common.

Describe your pricing structure.

Engagement-based. Some projects have fixed advisory fees. Others are milestone-based. Large structured transactions often include staged payments tied to documentation phases.

Typical price range?

Transaction size varies widely. I do not publish specific figures publicly. Advisory engagements can range significantly depending on complexity and jurisdiction.

Have you turned down projects?

Yes. If documentation is incomplete, funding intent is unclear, or compliance standards are weak, we decline. The minimum requirement is full transparency and verified counterparties.

What key challenges have you faced recently?

Regulatory tightening and increased scrutiny in cross-border capital flows. We responded by strengthening compliance frameworks and third-party verification layers.

How do you foster innovation?

By reviewing failure cases. Many improvements come from analysing what did not work. Innovation in finance is usually structural refinement, not invention.

What role does culture play?

Precision matters. Documentation discipline matters. We operate on a written process, not assumptions.

Where do you see the companies in 5–10 years?

Focused on institutional capital alignment and structured funding advisory. Growth will be measured, not rapid.

How has your leadership evolved?

Earlier in my career, I was execution-focused. Today, I prioritise oversight and risk containment. Experience reduces impulse.

What market shifts interest you?

Alternative funding routes for infrastructure and sovereign-level capital structuring.

Advice to aspiring founders?

Master structure before scale. Most failures come from weak foundations, not weak ambition.