Project Finance Symposium – Contemporary Strategies, Modeling & Risk

Programme description & objectives

Chrome Consulting Associates presents this 3-day contemporary symposium for Project Finance Professionals. This symposium would cover all the critical factors in project financing and would also identify the projects that are worth financing. Speakers would also delve into the relevant negotiation tactics that can be employed to achieve the best deals. Delegates would improve their knowledge on how to spot the pitfalls in project finance structures and identify the risks, credit, and funding criteria. Through practical exercises, delegates would learn sector-specific modeling and structuring protocols and how to build a cashflow models from scratch. The symposium would also cover other issues that include political risk structuring, and tailor the project to suit the funding. In addition, the symposium would consider the future direction and developments in the sector and how to best take advantage of these. Finally, attendees would be taken on a guided tour of relevant projects in and around Dubai and Abu Dhabi on the last day of the symposium. Through this tour, attendees would have the opportunity to interact directly with experienced Project Finance Managers, Directors, and Executives.

Venues, Dates & Cost

VenuesDublinLondonDubaiEdmonton (CAN)Lagos/Abuja
DatesTBDTBDTBDTBDTBD
Cost$4,000 per participant (USD)(=N=)

For whom:

  • Project Finance Directors, Financial Controllers and Treasurers
  • Project Finance Managers
  • All individuals involved and responsible for project tasks and activities

Snapshot of course content

  • Introduction and overview of Project Financing
  • Critical factors in project financing today
  • Why choose project finance?
  • Sponsor’s rationale
  • Lender’s criteria
  • Constructor’s objectives
  • Government’s roles
  • Institutions/investors
  • Best sectors and project types
  • Difficult sectors to avoid
  • Current trends
  • Stages in project finance
  • Time, team, costs
  • Information memorandum/project proposal
  • Credit/investment committee considerations
  • Contemporary case studies
  • Project financing risk profile, definitions, and analysis
  • The 6 risk systems
  • The 5 structuring formats
  • The 16 risks to identify
  • The 184 structures to apply
  • Sector-specific risk profiles and structuring protocols
  • Oil and gas
  • Tollways/bridges/tunnels
  • Power/merchant power railways
  • Ports/airports
  • LNG/Shipping
  • Water/wastewater
  • Hospitals/prisons
  • Telecoms/satellites
  • Mining/metals
  • Renewable energy
  • Risk metrics
  • Basel II
  • Compliance measures
  • Due diligence
  • How to scope the 7 independent reviews
  • Fit to credit/investment approval
  • The “bankable” feasibility study
  • The project development plan
  • Why do projects fail? Lessons to be learned from: Eurotunnel/Euro-Disney/Iridium, OrlyVAL/Dulles Greenway/NCA/Quintette
  • Key documentation aspects
  • The 19 participants
  • The 33 contracts
  • Contractual architecture – risk coverage
  • Concession agreements vs. BOO
  • The 5 types Special purpose vehicles
  • Operations/management (O&M) contracts
  • Turnkey construction contract
  • Delayed completion and systems performance insurances
  • Offtake/sales contracts
  • Indirect/third party support agreements
  • Government guarantees
  • Dispute resolution methods
  • Funding documentation
  • Loan agreements
  • Joint venture/shareholder agreement
  • Security documentation
  • Assignment of contracts/insurances
  • Direct and common agreements
  • Offshore proceeds account
  • Swaps
  • Securitization
  • Inter-creditor agreement/deed of priority
  • Funding sources
  • Debt
  • Equity
  • Leasing/leveraged leasing
  • Commodity-based
  • Project financing ratings
  • Moodys/Standard & Poors/Fitch
  • Key differences with bank-driven deals
  • Covenants
  • Pricing
  • Default
  • Term
  • Structure
  • Voting
  • Role of the advisor
  • When to involve advisors
  • How to keep the costs and timetable down
  • Political risk structuring definitions
  • Terrorism questionnaire
  • The ‘classic’ 3 war, inconvertibility, expropriation
  • The 20 political risks
  • Export credit agencies/bilateral agencies
  • US Eximbank/OPIC, US
  • EDC, Canada/KfWIpex/ Hermes/ECGD, UK/JBIC/NEXI
  • Tactics for approaching the ECAs
  • Multilateral agencies
  • World Bank
  • Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)
  • International Finance Corp (IFC)
  • European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)
  • Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
  • Asian Development Bank (ADB)
  • How to approach the multilateral
  • Private sources
  • AIG
  • Sovereign
  • Credit criteria and cash flow modeling
  • Credit analysis
  • The investors’/financier’s/company treasurer’s measures
  • What model is needed for project finance?
  • The model layout
  • Establishment of the key cases
  • Fit the project risks/sensitivities
  • “Circularity is best”
  • Model designs
  • Design of the input sheet/data validation
  • Conventional: operations; Capex; Loan/tax routines
  • Project finance model types
  • Typical layouts
  • Drawdown routines/model periods (%, quarterly, overruns)
  • The 8 main repayment styles
  • Multi-tranche approaches
  • Reserve accounts
  • Debt service
  • Maintenance
  • Capex
  • Tax
  • Environmental
  • FX
  • Calculating liquidated damages/overrun/retention requirements
  • Sensitivity analyses modeling
  • How to choose sensitivities
  • Key ratio targets
  • Contrast to sponsors’ IRR, NPV, valuation analyses
  • Dynamic what if?
  • Scenario manager
  • Graphical sensitivity techniques
  • Conditional formatting
  • Building the course model
  • Design the necessary input sheet
  • Determine the loan amount required using different repayment techniques
  • Model auditing
  • ‘Straight’ Excel techniques
  • Advanced add-in styles
  • Key inputs to modeling project finance cash flows
  • Non-modelling assumptions
  • Cyclicality
  • The 5 breakeven techniques
  • Modelling key decision/credit criteria
  • Leveraged IRR
  • Annual debt service cover ratio
  • Principal cover
  • Loan life/project life PV ratio
  • Interest cover
  • Cash/equity lockups
  • Delay algorithms
  • Residual cover/cushion/ratios
  • Liquidated damages
  • Cash sweeps/mandatory prepayments
  • Modelling workshop
  • Modelling tactics
  • How to fiddle/finesse the model
  • Typical modeling errors
  • Discounting/escalation
  • Available cash flow
  • Reserves
  • Working capital
  • Replacement capital
  • EBITDA
  • CPI-based LLR/PLR
  • The danger of using un-escalated models
  • Some handy tools to check model inputs
  • Contemporary outlook for project finance
  • Project finance as a competitive tool
  • How to integrate project financing into the bid
  • Contract/tender bidding
  • Public-private projects
  • The 7 variations
  • Tendering criteria
  • Trends/case examples
  • New horizons for projects and funding sources
  • “Green” funds
  • Emerging market funds
  • Infrastructure/development funds
  • Tax structures
  • Capital markets
  • Political risk enhancements
  • FX cover
  • Credit enhancements
  • Credit wraps/monolines
  • Weather/wind derivatives
  • Islamic project finance
  • Credit derivatives
  • Securitization
  • CDOs/CLOs
  • Takeout architectures
  • Case study presentations