Hawthorne Capital Advisors is an independent corporate advisory firm advising principals, boards, founders and sophisticated capital on complex transactions across resources, commodities, infrastructure, property and special situations.
Hawthorne Capital Advisors supports transactions where conventional investment banks and brokers often struggle: fragmented assets, jurisdictional complexity, unconventional capital stacks and time-sensitive execution.
We combine institutional-grade governance and risk frameworks with hands-on deal structuring experience across Australia, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Africa and North America.
Hawthorne works alongside trusted legal, accounting, escrow, logistics and technical partners while remaining fiercely independent and conflict-free.
From structuring and capital through to winning the mandate itself — Hawthorne brings the full arc of a complex transaction under one roof.
Advisory support across mining, processing, refining, offtake structuring, tolling analysis and trade-linked capital overlays.
Equity, quasi-equity and structured debt solutions aligned to asset-backed and project-linked transactions, especially property related.
Multi-jurisdictional structuring with FX repatriation, logistics corridor, sovereign risk and crypto considerations.
Leadership communications, executive coaching and deal-team alignment that strengthen how principals engage stakeholders across complex mandates.
New CapabilityIndependent transaction intelligence across commodities, mining, property, structured trade, corporate finance and special situations — fast, direct and institutionally framed. Before capital moves.
Hawthorne sits before capital deployment. We assess opportunities, expose hidden weaknesses, identify structural flaws and give a clear commercial view on whether a transaction should proceed, be reworked or be avoided.
We operate as an external commercial lens rather than a conflicted sales function.
Clients receive clear judgements — not vague commentary or padded reporting.
Where appropriate, we restructure opportunities into cleaner, more financeable forms.
Engage Hawthorne for a single assessment, a full investment memorandum, a restructuring mandate, or as an embedded commercial intelligence layer across a live pipeline.
Fast commercial screening for live opportunities with a direct proceed, restructure or avoid verdict. Typical turnaround 24–72 hours.
Investment-grade analysis covering structure, risk, capital stack and execution path. Standard delivery up to 14 days.
We reshape transactions into cleaner, more financeable and more executable opportunities. Timeframes vary with complexity.
An external commercial filter for funds, family offices, trading groups and active deal teams. Ongoing engagement.
A process designed for decision-makers who need commercial clarity quickly, without sacrificing structure or judgement.
We review decks, teasers, term sheets, procedures, financials and transaction documents.
Structured assessments with scoring, red flags, white flags and a clear view on whether to proceed.
Where appropriate, we help reshape the opportunity into a cleaner, more executable, more financeable structure.
A secured debt program for the acquisition, development and capitalisation of mining assets — built for projects with verifiable resources, clean title and full permitting. Capital is delivered against in-ground value, without equity sacrifice.
Capital secured against in-ground value — no equity sacrifice for borrowers.
Interest and fees capitalised across the facility tenor — no cash servicing during term.
Pre-positioned mortgage or equivalent first-ranking security over the asset and licences.
Primary scope: gold, silver and platinum group metals. Select base metals case-by-case.
Projects must satisfy each of the following. Any single failure means the project does not proceed to structuring.
Current JORC, 43-101 or equivalent compliant resource estimate, dated within the last 12 months at the date of application.
All material permits, licences and approvals in place and independently verifiable through legal and regulatory review.
Freehold ownership or long-term enforceable leasehold, including native-title compliant structures where applicable.
Precious metals primary focus — gold, silver, platinum group metals. Select base metals considered case-by-case.
Clean, execution-ready opportunities with verifiable title. Projects failing permitting or tenure review do not proceed.
Four stages from initial review through to drawdown, structured for speed and certainty.
Initial project submission and resource, permitting and tenure assessment at desktop level. Go / no-go determination.
Commercial structuring, loan-to-value positioning and indicative term sheet. Security architecture determined.
Independent technical validation (JORC, 43-101 or equivalent confirmation), legal verification of permits and tenure, site inspections and security perfection planning.
Facility agreement execution, mortgage or equivalent security registered and perfected, initial drawdown against agreed milestones.
Hawthorne acts across the engagement as structuring advisor, capital facilitator and transaction lead.
Translating project characteristics into a fundable structure that satisfies lender requirements without over-engineering the transaction.
Managing the lending relationship and coordinating diligence as the single point of contact between borrower and capital.
Overseeing end-to-end execution from screening through to drawdown — documentation, security registration and milestone release.
Facility size, tenor, rate and loan-to-value are calibrated to the specific transaction and provided on confidential review. Due-diligence fees apply at each stage and are capitalised into the facility at close.
Purchase, sale and capital raising for mining and resources companies — including bank-backed tokenisation of in-ground gold assets for capital release.
Purchase / sale contracts for commodities and precious metals, with comprehensive counterparty due diligence, KYC / AML and qualified buyer–seller engagement.
Funding commercial property purchases, refinancing, and matching clients with the right joint-venture partner for their developments.
Direct-to-seller / direct-to-buyer fuel and energy transactions, leveraging our global network to deliver results.
Leadership communications, executive coaching, and deal-team and joint-venture alignment — strengthening how principals engage stakeholders across complex mandates.
Through a direct partnership with Anita Payne, Hawthorne helps principals, boards and deal teams communicate with clarity, align multi-disciplinary and joint-venture teams, and engage the stakeholders that complex mandates depend on.
Built on four decades of executive coaching, leadership communications and high-performance team development, this practice brings the human dimension of dealmaking — positioning, negotiation, culture and stakeholder engagement — alongside Hawthorne's transaction structuring and governance.
Helping principals and boards articulate strategy, sharpen positioning and communicate with clarity and conviction across high-stakes engagements.
Aligning multi-disciplinary and multi-organisational teams in high-pressure environments, using accredited profiling (Kolbe, Human Synergistics) to build the high-performing teams behind landmark transactions.
Executive coaching, persuasive presentation and negotiation that help leaders inspire confidence with counterparties, boards and capital.
A capability delivered in direct partnership with Anita Payne.
The expertise and dedication behind every Hawthorne engagement.
David Laird is a seasoned institutional banker with more than four decades of experience across banking, fintech, structured finance, and alternative investments. He is recognised for structuring complex, high-value transactions while maintaining rigorous governance, risk management, and investor-protection standards.
David has held senior leadership roles at ANZ and Commonwealth Bank, where he led large-scale institutional mandates for government entities and some of Australia's largest corporates. His client portfolio has included state government treasuries, toll road operators, national sporting stadiums, private health insurers, and federal government departments, reflecting deep capability across complex legal, financial, and technical environments.
As a founding shareholder and executive at DataMesh, a leading fintech innovator in merchant acquiring and EFTPOS technology, David oversaw the development and rollout of cloud-based payment infrastructure now adopted by major banks and national retailers. He also served as a Non-Executive Director of ASX-listed Spenda (ASX: SPX), contributing capital markets, governance, and scaling expertise to a high-growth listed company.
In addition, David co-leads ventures across private credit, real estate, fintech, and structured trade finance, facilitating capital through instruments including standby letters of credit (SBLCs), guarantees, and bespoke project finance structures. He has raised and managed significant investor capital, working closely with high-net-worth individuals, family offices, and institutional funds.
David holds a Master of eCommerce from Deakin University, where he also lectured in Information Systems for Business within the MBA and MPA programs. He brings a rare combination of academic depth and hands-on execution, with a consistent focus on de-risking opportunities, aligning investors, and scaling businesses through disciplined governance and strategic partnerships.
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Lyle Rohde is an accomplished investment professional and capital markets strategist with more than a decade of experience across structured finance, private credit, and alternative investments. As Director of Westminster Capital Advisors, he has led complex funding and investment mandates spanning real estate, fintech, hospitality, and emerging markets, combining institutional rigour with entrepreneurial insight.
Lyle's expertise includes capital structuring, private equity placements, and bespoke finance solutions, with a strong emphasis on governance, AML/CTF compliance, and investor protection. He has successfully managed multi-million-dollar capital raises and executed transactions involving first and second mortgage securities, project finance, and bank instruments including standby letters of credit (SBLCs) and guarantees.
Previously holding senior roles at Australian Capital Solutions and CRE Capital, Lyle has built enduring relationships with high-net-worth investors, family offices, and institutional partners. His approach balances disciplined risk management with commercial agility, consistently delivering sustainable growth and strategic advantage across complex transactions.
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Oliver James Goldsmith is a highly entrepreneurial Australian professional with a proven track record in founding, scaling, and advising ventures across commodities, capital markets, and real estate. He currently serves as Director at Blackwood Fund Australia Pty Ltd and Co-Founder and Chief Technical Officer at Aeternis Equity Pty Ltd, where he leads the development of innovative financing solutions across private credit, structured trade, and alternative investments.
Oliver is the architect of Alimentum Exchange (ACE), a next-generation global commodities trading ecosystem integrating blockchain-enabled trade settlement, AI-driven smart contracts, and multi-currency gateways including SWIFT, letters of credit, SBLCs, and digital assets. ACE is supported by institutional-grade due diligence delivered through Tier-1 legal and accounting partners and is positioned to materially reshape global commodities trade flows.
His transaction experience spans a broad range of resources and structured trade finance, including copper concentrate, bauxite, lithium, coal, LNG, Jet A1, EN590, palm oil, antimony, and gold doré. Oliver is recognised for bridging buyer–seller trust gaps through robust legal structuring, third-party verification, and investor-ready governance frameworks.
Beyond commodities, Oliver has led and advised on real estate restructures and property development engagements, including projects in receivership and complex settlement processes valued in the billions. His strength lies in structuring transactions that balance investor protection with growth potential, leveraging creative financing mechanisms, strategic partnerships, and performance-aligned advisory models.
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Anita Payne brings more than four decades of experience in strategic communications, executive coaching and organisational development, with a singular focus on leadership performance, team alignment and stakeholder engagement across complex projects and major transactions.
Anita has partnered with Tier-1 organisations including Fulton Hogan, Beca, Downer, CPB, BMD, Acciona, Aurecon, Cisco and SAP to shape positioning, build high-performance teams and align leadership through significant transactions and transformations. Her work spans executive communications, client engagement, negotiation, leadership development, culture transformation and bid leadership when required.
An accredited executive coach and facilitator, Anita is a lifetime-accredited Human Synergistics practitioner (OCI, OEI, LSI) and accredited in Kolbe and PsychK. She is a member of the International Association of Facilitators and the Neuroscience Institute, and holds graduate and postgraduate qualifications in marketing and behavioural psychology.
At Hawthorne, Anita leads the firm's Strategic Engagement & Leadership Advisory practice — strengthening how principals, boards and deal teams engage stakeholders, align partners and communicate across the complex mandates Hawthorne structures.
T: +61 407 161 775 · E: anita@hawthorne.au
Tony Abi-Fares is a seasoned property acquisitions and operations specialist with more than 17 years driving residential, commercial and mixed-use development outcomes across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. He is equally fluent in site sourcing, council and town-planner liaison, contract negotiation and full-cycle operational delivery.
As founder and Principal Consultant of Project Management Advisors, Tony sources and qualifies acquisition targets, structures and negotiates joint ventures and development agreements, and maintains active relationships with councils, planners, surveyors and consulting engineers. His engagements extend into modular construction and resource project management, both locally and offshore.
He brings hands-on resources experience as former Director of Operations at Clermont Gold Corporation's PlentyGold Miclere site, where he held full operational accountability for a remote gold mining operation — directing site management and contractors, administering plant and ground-asset contracts, and acting as primary liaison for State Government, the EPA and other regulators.
At Hawthorne, Tony leads property, development and resource-operations engagements — originating opportunities, structuring deals and overseeing on-the-ground delivery across the firm's property and mining mandates.
T: +61 404 155 729 · E: tony@hawthorne.au · LinkedIn ↗
Hawthorne Capital Advisors operates with institutional-grade governance standards supported by robust KYC/KYB, AML/CTF and counterparty screening protocols aligned with Australian and international best practice. We work with Tier-1 legal, accounting, escrow, assay and logistics providers where appropriate.
For enquiries or to schedule a consultation, reach out to our team. We provide tailored advisory services to support your next steps with confidence.
