A special purpose vehicle refers to a firm whose operations are limited to the acquisition and financing of specific assets or projects. SPVs are usually established as subsidiaries whose assets and liabilities are structured in a manner that makes their obligations secure irrespective of the financial difficulties of their parent companies. Thus, a special purpose vehicle will be necessary to generate adequate funds to complete the project. Project financing refers to the raising of funds on a limited recourse basis for the purposes of developing a large-scale capital intensive project through a special purpose vehicle. Generally, the borrowed funds are often repaid using the revenue from the project. Reasons of Using SPVs in Project Financing One of the main reasons for using SPVs is to share the risks associated with implementing large-scale infrastructure projects with the financiers. SPVs are often formed as independent legal entities with several shareholders. The common Continue reading
Project Finance
Build Operate Transfer (BOT) Model
Build Operate Transfer (BOT) is a project financing and operating approach that has found an application in recent years primarily in the area of infrastructure privatization in the developing countries. It enables direct private sector investment in large scale infrastructure projects. In BOT the private contractor constructs and operates the facility for a specified period. The public agency pays the contractor a fee, which may be a fixed sum, linked to output or, more likely, a combination of the two. The fee will cover the operators fixed and variable costs, including recovery of the capital invested by the contractor. In this case, ownership of the facility rests with the public agency. The theory of Build Operate Transfer (BOT) is as follows: BUILD – A private company (or consortium) agrees with a government to invest in a public infrastructure project. The company then secures their own financing to construct the project. Continue reading
Introduction to Project Finance
Project finance is typically defined as limited or non-recourse financing of a new project through separate incorporation of vehicle or Project Company. Project financing involves non-recourse financing of the development and construction of a particular project in which the lender looks principally to the revenues expected to be generated by the project for the repayment of its loan and to the assets of the project as collateral for its loan rather than to the general credit of the project sponsor. Project Financing includes understanding the rationale for project financing, how to prepare the financial plan, assess the project risks, design the financing mix, and raise the funds. In addition, one must understand the cogent (intellectual, powerful) analyses of why some project financing plans have succeeded while others have failed. A knowledge-base is required regarding the design of contractual arrangements to support project financing; issues for the host government legislative provisions, Continue reading
Characteristics of Project Financing
Project financing involves non-recourse financing of the development and construction of a particular project in which the lender looks principally to the revenues expected to be generated by the project for the repayment of its loan and to the assets of the project as collateral for its loan rather than to the general credit of the project sponsor. Project financing is commonly used as a financing method in capital-intensive industries for projects requiring large investments of funds, such as the construction of power plants, pipelines, transportation systems, mining facilities, industrial facilities, and heavy manufacturing plants. The sponsors (the sponsor(s) or developer(s) of a project financing is the party that organizes all of the other parties and typically controls, and makes an equity investment in, the company or other entity that owns the project) of such projects frequently are not sufficiently creditworthy to obtain traditional financing or are unwilling to take Continue reading
Cash Flow Computations in Project Management
Financial appraisal or evaluation is a must for every project even though the outcome may not be the decision criteria for establishing the project. Financial appraisal of a project deals with cash flows. Cash, which goes out of the firm, is known as cash outflow. Typically an investment in a project is an out flow. The cash that is received in future from the project is an inflow. We should remember that cash is different from income. Cash flow and not income flow is central to project evaluation. The results of an evaluation of a project are only as good as the accuracy of our estimation of cash flows. The following illustrates computation of cash outflow. Cash outflow on installation of a machine includes; Cost of new equipment Labor and erection costs Maintenance cost While computing such outflows we should not include interest costs on debt employed. If the cost Continue reading
Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) Model
Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) funding model of project financing involves a single organization, or consortium (BOOT provider) who designs, builds, funds, owns and operates the project for a defined period of time and then transfers this projects ownership across to a agreed party. BOOT projects are a way for governments to bundle together the design and construction, finance, operations and maintenance and potentially marketing and customer interface aspects of a project and let these as a package to a single private sector service provider. The asset is transferred back to the government after the concession period at little or no cost. The Components of Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) Model: Build: The concession grants the promoter the right to design, construct, and finance the project. A construction contract will be required between the promoter and a contractor. The contract is often among the most difficult to negotiate in Continue reading