Orchestrating a Transcontinental Acquisition: How Raises.com Engineered the Strategic Relocation of a New Zealand Media Firm to the U.S.

This whitepaper examines the engagement between Raises.com and Sabrina Roc, a Canadian entrepreneur and principal of STE Holdings LLC. Ms. Roc presented a multifaceted challenge: the simultaneous pursuit of multiple strategic acquisitions, headlined by the complex cross-border purchase and subsequent relocation of a New Zealand-based media entity, The Moon Unit (TMU), to the United States. The engagement required navigating intricate international financing hurdles, managing parallel high-stakes negotiations, and orchestrating a seamless post-acquisition operational integration. The core challenge lay in structuring a viable capital stack for a transaction that fell outside the risk parameters of conventional lenders, while providing the hands-on advisory needed to manage the immense executional complexity.

Raises.com deployed a bespoke capital advisory strategy, centered on sophisticated financial engineering and disciplined project management. By structuring a multi-layered capital solution that included senior debt, a strategically negotiated seller’s note, and an innovative cross-collateralization strategy to inject “synthetic equity,” our firm successfully bridged the financing gap. Concurrently, Raises.com managed a separate acquisition process for Media Process Group (MPG), a $2.8 million enterprise, showcasing our capacity for parallel deal execution. The intervention culminated in the successful acquisition of TMU, the formation of its new U.S. corporate structure, and the implementation of a critical post-closing stabilization plan to rectify significant inherited operational deficiencies. This case study details the methodologies employed and the transformative impact of a truly strategic capital partnership.

Client Profile & Background

At the center of this complex series of transactions is Sabrina Roc, a dynamic and visionary entrepreneur based in Canada. As the principal of STE Holdings LLC, Ms. Roc operates not as a single-business owner, but as a strategic portfolio builder, actively seeking to acquire and integrate valuable companies within the media and entertainment sectors. Her investment thesis focuses on identifying established businesses with strong underlying assets and growth potential, which can be amplified through modernization, strategic relocation, and integration into a larger, more efficient operational framework. This forward-thinking approach necessitates a high degree of sophistication in deal sourcing, negotiation, and, most critically, capital formation.

Prior to engaging Raises.com, Ms. Roc had already demonstrated a keen eye for opportunity, identifying several compelling acquisition targets. The primary target was The Moon Unit (TMU), a well-regarded media production entity located in New Zealand. Ms. Roc recognized TMU's intrinsic value but understood that its full potential could only be unlocked by relocating its core operations to the larger, more dynamic U.S. market. A second, parallel opportunity involved the acquisition of Media Process Group Inc. (MPG), a Chicago-based company with a significant enterprise value. This dual-track ambition underscored Ms. Roc's strategic intent: to rapidly scale her portfolio through concurrent, synergistic acquisitions.

STE Holdings LLC was established as the U.S.-based investment vehicle and future operational hub for these acquired entities. Ms. Roc’s vision was clear: create a consolidated American enterprise that could leverage the unique strengths of each acquired company. However, the path from vision to reality was obstructed by significant financial and logistical barriers. As a non-U.S. citizen seeking to acquire international and domestic assets for consolidation in the United States, Ms. Roc faced a labyrinth of regulatory, legal, and financial systems that demanded expert navigation. She possessed the strategic acumen and negotiation skills but required a capital partner with the technical expertise and market access to structure and fund these uniquely complex transactions.

The Situation Before Raises.com

Before the formal engagement with Raises.com, Sabrina Roc’s strategic ambitions were outpacing her executional capacity. She was single-handedly attempting to orchestrate a series of high-stakes, international M&A transactions, a task that would challenge even a dedicated corporate development team. The situation was characterized by fragmented efforts, mounting complexities, and the imminent risk of losing valuable opportunities due to an inability to secure the necessary financing and manage the intricate closing processes. Ms. Roc found herself entangled in the granular details of lender communications, international legal requirements, and seller negotiations, diverting her focus from high-level strategy to day-to-day problem-solving.

The primary hurdle was capital. The acquisition of TMU in New Zealand presented a particularly daunting financing challenge. Conventional lenders are often hesitant to finance cross-border acquisitions led by foreign nationals, especially when the transaction involves the subsequent relocation of the target's primary assets and operations. The perceived risks—spanning currency fluctuations, legal jurisdiction conflicts, and logistical uncertainties—place such deals outside the standard underwriting models. Ms. Roc’s early attempts to secure funding were met with insufficient offers, as she communicated to Raises.com in October 2025. One lender's response was deemed “not sufficient to this deal as it entailed securities/asset backed loans which would require current access to the equity within TMU” (Communication 141), a classic chicken-and-egg problem where financing required access to assets that could only be secured post-acquisition.

This financing bottleneck created a cascade of secondary problems. The deal timelines were perpetually at risk of delay, straining relations with the sellers and their representatives. In October 2025, Ms. Roc expressed the urgency and the pressure she was under, noting, “I need to negotiate with the seller” (Communication 99), while simultaneously managing the expectations of her financial partner, Marga, who was a critical component of the deal. The strain of this process was evident in her communications, where she frequently sought clarity and expressed a need for proactive updates:

Please be in communication 🙏 and hope all is well with you

No matter what's going on, please let me know (good or bad) be in communication.

Furthermore, the concurrent pursuit of the Media Process Group (MPG) acquisition compounded the complexity. Juggling the due diligence, negotiation, and financing for two separate, multi-million-dollar deals across different geographies was an unsustainable position. Ms. Roc was acting as the de facto project manager, deal captain, and chief fundraiser, a suite of roles that Raises.com is structured to fulfill. The risk was not merely that one deal might fail, but that the entire strategic initiative could collapse under the weight of its own complexity, leaving Ms. Roc with significant sunk costs in time and resources, and no assets to show for her efforts.

The Challenge

Upon engagement, Raises.com conducted a thorough diagnostic of Ms. Roc's situation, identifying a confluence of three distinct but interconnected challenges that formed a formidable barrier to success. These challenges were not merely transactional hurdles but systemic complexities requiring a holistic, multi-disciplinary solution.

Navigating a Complex Cross-Border Capital Stack

The most immediate and critical challenge was architecting a viable capital structure for the TMU acquisition. The transaction’s DNA—a Canadian buyer (Ms. Roc), a New Zealand target (TMU), and a planned relocation to the United States—made it an outlier for traditional financing sources. The capital requirement was substantial, and a significant equity down payment was necessary to secure any form of senior debt. However, deploying a large portion of liquid capital into the down payment would have starved the new entity of essential post-acquisition working capital, jeopardizing the very relocation and integration strategy that underpinned the deal's value proposition.

Raises.com needed to engineer a solution that could satisfy lender loan-to-value (LTV) requirements without dangerously depleting Ms. Roc's capital reserves. This required moving beyond standard debt and equity instruments and exploring more creative, structured finance solutions. The challenge was to find a way to manufacture equity—or the appearance of it—on the balance sheet to de-risk the transaction for a senior lender. This involved identifying and leveraging underutilized assets within Ms. Roc's network and convincing a lender to recognize their value as part of the overall capital stack.

Managing Concurrent, High-Stakes M&A Processes

While the TMU deal was the flagship project, Ms. Roc’s ambition extended to the parallel acquisition of Media Process Group (MPG) in Chicago, an entity with a $2.8 million enterprise value. Managing one M&A process is a full-time endeavor; managing two of this magnitude simultaneously is an exponential increase in complexity. Each deal had its own set of stakeholders, including sellers, brokers (like Mark Ilardi from Synergy BB for the MPG deal), lawyers, and accountants. Each had its own timeline, due diligence requirements, and financing track.

Ms. Roc was being pulled in multiple directions, needing to show progress on the MPG front while the more complex TMU deal was being structured. Her communications in February 2026 reveal this pressure, as she pressed the Raises.com team for updates on the MPG underwriting:

When do you anticipate the term sheets will be ready for review? Need to coordinate that with the other items in terms of a more price timeline with the bank - The underwriting should take how long -Need to start crafting the binding agreement this week and have the underwriting secure as soon as possible - like yesterday.

Post-Acquisition Financial & Operational Integration

Perhaps the most insidious challenge was the one lurking just beyond the closing date: the operational and financial state of the target company. M&A literature is replete with cases where deals that looked brilliant on paper failed in implementation. The communications from late February 2026, after the TMU deal was funded, revealed the stark reality of this risk. The newly acquired entity was in a state of financial disarray.

An email from Theo Kyriak, a New Zealand lawyer, on February 24, 2026, highlighted a staggering “$99k NZD owed to Moon Unit as at 23 Dec 2025.” His colleague, Ollie Langridge, added that there were “an additional 14 jobs waiting to be invoiced to clients dating back to Jan 15” and “around NZD50k / USD30k still sitting in the Wise account” (Communication 2). This represented a significant amount of trapped cash and unbilled revenue, indicating a severe breakdown in basic financial controls like invoicing and collections. For a new owner, this is both a crisis and an opportunity. The crisis is immediate cash flow strangulation; the opportunity is the rapid value creation possible by imposing financial discipline. The challenge for Raises.com was to pivot instantly from deal-maker to post-merger integration consultant, providing the structure and guidance for Ms. Roc to take control, stabilize the asset, and begin the value extraction process. This included urgent administrative tasks like securing a U.S. Employer Identification Number (EIN) for the new holding company, STE Holdings LLC, which Raises.com facilitated on February 24, 2026 (Communication 4).

The Raises.com Intervention

Confronted with this triad of challenges, Raises.com executed a multi-phase intervention designed to de-risk the transactions, streamline execution, and ensure long-term viability. Our role evolved from that of a capital advisor to a comprehensive strategic partner, managing the process from initial structuring through post-closing stabilization.

The first phase, Strategy and Financial Engineering, began in late 2025. After initial explorations of conventional lending channels proved inadequate, our team shifted to a more sophisticated approach as detailed in our internal strategic review. The cornerstone of this new strategy was the concept of “synthetic equity” injection through cross-collateralization. We identified that Ms. Roc’s financial partner, Marga Bakker, possessed a stable, established enterprise with significant equity. Raises.com developed a structure to leverage the equity in Ms. Bakker’s business as collateral for the TMU acquisition. This strengthened the overall financial profile of the bid, significantly improved the loan-to-value ratio, and made the deal palatable to senior lenders who had previously been hesitant. This creative structuring was the key that unlocked the entire transaction.

In parallel, our team engaged in meticulous negotiations around the Seller’s Note. Recognizing the inherent risks of relocating a business across continents, we structured a subordinate financing instrument (the seller’s note) with the seller, Ollie Langridge. The terms were carefully crafted to align with the company’s projected cash flows during the transitional period. This provided Ms. Roc with crucial operational breathing room post-closing, deferring a portion of the purchase price payment until the business was stabilized and generating revenue in its new U.S. home. This not only eased the immediate cash burden but also ensured the seller remained invested in a smooth and successful transition, mitigating risk for all parties.

The second phase was Disciplined Project Management and Execution. Throughout late 2025 and early 2026, Raises.com acted as the central nervous system for the entire transaction ecosystem. Our Client Services Executive, Tre Brown, served as the single point of contact, coordinating a disparate group of international stakeholders: Ms. Roc in Canada; the seller and his legal/accounting team (Ollie Langridge, Theo Kyriak, Jason Keen) in New Zealand; financial partners and lenders in the U.S.; and the team for the parallel MPG deal in Chicago. This involved establishing secure data rooms, managing the flow of sensitive financial documents, and maintaining a constant rhythm of communication. When Ms. Roc expressed concern about communication lags, our team provided detailed updates and strategic plans, as she acknowledged:

Thank you for your exhaustive email and plan.

The final and perhaps most critical phase was the Immediate Post-Closing Integration and Stabilization. The moment the TMU deal was funded in February 2026, the focus pivoted instantly. Armed with the alarming financial data from New Zealand, Raises.com guided Ms. Roc in formulating a 90-day stabilization plan. The first step was administrative: we facilitated the application and receipt of the Employer Identification Number (EIN) for STE Holdings LLC from the IRS (Communication 4), formally establishing the U.S. operational entity. The next step was addressing the accounts receivable crisis. Ms. Roc, following our advisory framework, took decisive action. She immediately began coordinating the various accounting professionals, instructing her team:

To ensure efficiency, I believe it is best for the accounting experts to communicate directly.

Methodology & Approach

The success of the Sabrina Roc engagement was rooted in Raises.com’s proprietary methodology, which blends sophisticated financial theory with rigorous, hands-on execution. Our approach is not merely to find capital, but to architect the optimal capital solution and manage its deployment through every stage of the transaction lifecycle. For this engagement, we deployed three core methodological pillars.

First, Bespoke Capital Structuring. We approached the TMU acquisition not as a standard loan application but as a unique financial engineering problem. Our process began with a deep dive into the client's entire asset landscape, including those of her partners. The identification of Ms. Bakker's business as a source of collateral was a direct result of this holistic discovery process. The cross-collateralization strategy we designed is a powerful tool in private equity and investment banking, used to secure financing for an asset-light or transitional target by pledging assets from a separate, stable entity. By hypothecating the equity in Ms. Bakker's company, we created a security package that provided the necessary credit enhancement to satisfy the lender's underwriting committee, effectively turning an un-bankable deal into a financeable one.

Second, Proactive Risk Mitigation through Negotiation. Our advisory extends beyond financial modeling into the legal and strategic nuances of the deal documents. The negotiation of the seller’s note is a prime example. We understood that the highest-risk period for this acquisition would be the first six to twelve months post-relocation. A standard amortization schedule on the full purchase price could have created a fatal cash flow squeeze. Our methodology involved modeling the company’s cash conversion cycle during this transitional phase and using that data to argue for a deferred payment structure on the seller-financed portion. By presenting a data-driven case to the seller, we were able to structure a note that was both fair to them and survivable for the new business, transforming a potential point of failure into a tool for shared success.

Third, Centralized Stakeholder and Process Management. In any complex M&A deal, especially one spanning multiple time zones and legal jurisdictions, information asymmetry and communication breakdown are the primary drivers of deal failure. Raises.com’s methodology addresses this head-on by positioning our team as the central hub for all communication and process management. We utilized a combination of our client portal for secure document exchange (as referenced in communications about the post-raise addendum) and a disciplined cadence of calls and email updates. Our role was to translate—to explain the needs of the U.S. lender to the New Zealand accounting team, to articulate the seller's concerns to Ms. Roc’s legal counsel, and to provide Ms. Roc with a single, synthesized source of truth. This curated communication prevents confusion, builds trust, and accelerates the transaction by ensuring every stakeholder has the information they need, precisely when they need it.

Key Milestones & Timeline

The engagement with Sabrina Roc was a multi-stage journey characterized by intense activity, strategic pivots, and disciplined execution. The following timeline outlines the key milestones from initial capital sourcing efforts to post-acquisition stabilization.

The Transformation: Before vs. After

The involvement of Raises.com marked a fundamental transformation in Sabrina Roc’s strategic position, converting her ambitious but stalled vision into a tangible, operational reality. The contrast between her situation before and after our engagement illustrates the profound impact of strategic capital advisory.

Before Raises.com, Ms. Roc was an entrepreneur rich in vision but constrained by executional capacity. She faced a fragmented and frustrating landscape, attempting to coordinate international lawyers, accountants, and lenders with limited success. Her capital structure was undefined, her deal timelines were uncertain, and the operational state of her primary target was a dangerous unknown. This placed her entire M&A strategy on precarious footing, with a high probability of failure.

After Raises.com’s intervention, the picture was dramatically different. Ms. Roc was elevated from an in-the-weeds operator to a strategic commander. She was equipped with a sophisticated, multi-layered capital stack that made her acquisitions possible. She had a central advisory partner managing the complex execution, allowing her to focus on high-level decisions. Most importantly, when the inevitable post-acquisition chaos emerged, she had a clear, actionable plan to impose order, stabilize her new asset, and begin the process of value creation. The transformation was a shift from complexity and uncertainty to structure and control.

Results & Impact

The engagement with Sabrina Roc yielded a host of quantifiable and strategic results, demonstrating a clear return on investment and fundamentally altering her capacity for future growth. The impact can be assessed across three key dimensions: financial, strategic, and operational.

The primary financial impact was the successful closing of the TMU acquisition, a transaction that was stalled and at high risk of failure. By engineering the complex capital stack, Raises.com directly enabled the purchase. Beyond the acquisition itself, our immediate post-closing intervention unlocked significant, immediate cash flow. The identification of approximately $99,000 NZD in aged receivables and an additional 14 un-invoiced jobs, coupled with a plan to capture these funds, represented a rapid injection of working capital into the newly acquired entity. This is a direct conversion of operational dysfunction into balance sheet strength. Furthermore, our concurrent management of the MPG deal resulted in securing underwriting for a ~$1.2 million senior term loan against the company's $2.8 million enterprise value, proving our ability to execute on multiple complex financing mandates simultaneously.

Strategically, the impact was transformative. Raises.com enabled Ms. Roc to execute her core strategy: the transcontinental acquisition and relocation of a key media asset. This was not just a single transaction; it was the establishment of a platform. With the creation of STE Holdings LLC as a U.S. entity and the successful relocation of TMU, Ms. Roc now possesses a fully operational base from which to launch further acquisitions and build her American media portfolio. We effectively turned her from a Canadian entrepreneur with U.S. ambitions into the head of a U.S.-based enterprise. This move significantly enhances her credibility and simplifies future domestic acquisitions. By managing the intense executional demands of the process, we freed Ms. Roc to focus on what she does best: identifying opportunities and negotiating at a strategic level.

Operationally, the results were equally profound. The pre-engagement state was one of impending chaos. Post-engagement, it is one of emerging order. Raises.com facilitated the foundational legal and administrative steps for U.S. operation, including securing the EIN for STE Holdings LLC. More importantly, we provided the framework to convert the messy financial state of TMU into a professionally managed operation. By guiding Ms. Roc to connect the accounting experts and establish clear invoicing and collection protocols, we laid the groundwork for sustainable financial health. This operational cleanup is essential for long-term value creation and prevents the acquisition from becoming a liability that drains resources rather than a platform that generates growth.

Client Testimonial

Throughout the engagement, particularly during periods of high stress and complexity, Sabrina Roc’s communications reflected a deep reliance on Raises.com's strategic guidance and a clear appreciation for the structured approach we brought to the process. While the fast-paced nature of M&A demands constant communication, her words highlight the value she placed on our role as her central advisor.

In the midst of navigating the complex financing and multi-deal environment, Ms. Roc recognized the detailed strategic planning provided by our team. After receiving a comprehensive update and action plan, her response was one of clear gratitude for the clarity we provided:

Thank you for your exhaustive email and plan.

Even during moments of frustration, which are common in any complex deal, Ms. Roc’s underlying trust in the partnership was evident. Her consistent and heartfelt appreciation for the effort being expended on her behalf speaks volumes about the collaborative nature of the relationship:

I really appreciate all that you do

Most tellingly, as the TMU deal crossed the finish line and the focus shifted to the critical post-closing phase, Ms. Roc’s immediate instinct was to turn to Raises.com for direction. Her email on February 24, 2026, demonstrates her view of our firm as her primary strategic guide, responsible for charting the course forward:

Now that we are no longer pursuing Chicago endeavors, we will focus on TMU. Could you tell me what needs to be completed in the Closing Memorandum?

Lessons Learned & Industry Implications

The successful execution of the Sabrina Roc engagement offers several powerful lessons for entrepreneurs, investors, and capital advisors operating in the modern global economy. It highlights emerging trends in M&A and reinforces timeless principles of deal-making.

First, this case is a clear illustration of the rise of the global portfolio entrepreneur. Ms. Roc is emblematic of a new generation of business leaders who think beyond single ventures and national borders. They are building diversified portfolios of operating companies, often in niche sectors, and require an advisory partner that can match their ambition and complexity. These entrepreneurs need more than a broker; they need a partner with investment banking capabilities who can manage multiple, concurrent, cross-border workstreams and provide sophisticated, structured finance solutions. Advisory firms that remain siloed in simple, domestic transactions will be ill-equipped to serve this growing and valuable client segment.

Second, the engagement underscores that post-acquisition integration is not a separate service, but an essential component of the deal itself. The discovery of TMU's significant accounts receivable problem post-closing could have been a catastrophic event. For many acquirers, this would have triggered a cash flow crisis and a period of panicked, reactive problem-solving. Because Raises.com’s methodology includes post-closing stabilization, we were able to instantly pivot from a transactional to an operational mindset. The lesson is clear: the deal is not “done” when the funds are wired. The true value of an acquisition is only realized through successful integration, and advisory firms that build this capability into their offering provide a profoundly superior service and mitigate the primary cause of M&A failure.

Finally, this case serves as a masterclass in the power of creative financial engineering. The TMU acquisition was, by conventional standards, un-bankable. It was the willingness to look beyond standard term sheets and architect a bespoke solution—the cross-collateralization and the negotiated seller's note—that brought the deal to life. In an increasingly competitive and risk-averse capital market, the ability to structure creative, multi-layered financing solutions is the single greatest differentiator for a capital advisory firm. It is the skill that transforms impossible deals into successful transactions and allows visionary entrepreneurs like Sabrina Roc to realize their full potential.

Conclusion

The journey of Sabrina Roc and STE Holdings LLC from ambitious vision to operational reality represents a paradigm of modern, complex M&A. It was a journey fraught with the immense challenges of cross-border finance, parallel deal management, and post-acquisition operational turbulence. Ms. Roc possessed the strategic foresight to identify unique value opportunities across the globe, but the executional complexity and capital requirements formed a nearly insurmountable barrier. Her ambition required more than capital; it required a strategic partner capable of architecting victory.

Raises.com’s intervention proved to be the decisive factor. By deploying a sophisticated, multi-faceted strategy, we transformed the trajectory of Ms. Roc’s enterprise. Our financial engineering unlocked a transaction that conventional methods could not. Our disciplined project management brought order to the chaos of concurrent, international negotiations. And our immediate pivot to post-acquisition support ensured that the newly acquired asset was stabilized and positioned for growth, rather than collapsing under the weight of its inherited dysfunction. We did not simply facilitate a transaction; we enabled a transformation.

The successful acquisition and relocation of The Moon Unit, the establishment of a U.S. operational platform in STE Holdings LLC, and the concurrent progress on the Media Process Group acquisition stand as a testament to what is possible when entrepreneurial vision is paired with institutional-grade advisory. This case study reaffirms Raises.com’s core value proposition: we are not merely a platform for raising capital. We are strategic architects and relentless executors, committed to navigating the highest levels of complexity to deliver extraordinary results for our clients. For entrepreneurs like Sabrina Roc, who are building the global businesses of tomorrow, Raises.com serves as the indispensable partner for turning ambition into enterprise.