Definition, Mechanism, and Loan Types

What Is Project Finance?

Project finance is funding for long-term infrastructure, industrial projects, and public services. It uses a nonrecourse or limited-recourse financial structure. In addition, it relies on a project’s cash flows to repay the debt and equity used to finance the project. Project finance, which is commonly used in the energy and telecommunications sectors, benefits companies by keeping debt off their balance sheets.

Understanding How Project Finance Operates

“Project finance” refers to financing long-term industrial and infrastructure projects, particularly in sectors like oil and gas, power generation, and transportation. It’s also used to finance certain economic bodies like special purpose vehicles (SPVs), which are created to manage a single project. The funding required for these projects is based entirely on the projected cash flows.

Some of the common sponsors of project finance include the following entities:

• Contractor sponsors: These sponsors provide subordinated or unsecured debt and/or equity and are crucial to the project’s establishment and operation. 
• Financial sponsors: These include investors who are mainly focused on achieving a big return on their investment.
• Industrial sponsors: These are companies with a strategic interest in the project, as the project may align with their core business.
• Public sponsors: These sponsors include governments from various levels.

The build, operate, and transfer (BOT) project finance structure has several key elements. Project finance for BOT projects generally includes an SPV. The company’s sole activity is carrying out the project by subcontracting most aspects through construction and operations contracts. Since new-build projects don’t generate revenue during the construction phase, debt service begins only in the operations phase.

This creates big risks during construction since revenue might only come from offtake or power purchase agreements. Because there’s limited or no recourse to the project’s sponsors, company shareholders are typically liable up to the extent of their investment. This structure keeps the project off the balance sheets of both the sponsors and the government, minimizing financial risk.

Exploring Off-Balance Sheet Projects in Project Finance

Project debt is usually in a minority subsidiary, not shown on shareholders’ balance sheets. This reduces the project’s impact on the shareholders’ existing debt and debt capacity cost, and the shareholders are free to use their debt capacity for other investments.

Governments use project financing to keep debt off their balance sheets, reducing fiscal space. Fiscal space is the amount of money the government may spend beyond what it already invests in public services such as health, welfare, and education. Governments can create fiscal space by raising taxes, cutting lower-priority spending, or securing external grants, but they must do so carefully to ensure long-term economic sustainability. The theory is that strong economic growth will boost tax revenues, allowing the government to increase spending on public services.

Analyzing Nonrecourse Financing in Project Finance

In a loan default, recourse financing lets lenders claim shareholders’ assets or cash flow. In contrast, project financing designates the project company as a limited liability SPV. If the project company defaults, the lenders’ recourse is thus limited primarily or entirely to the project’s assets, including completion and performance guarantees and bonds.

A key consideration in nonrecourse financing is whether there are circumstances under which lenders could access shareholders’ assets. For example, if shareholders deliberately breach the terms of the agreement, the lender may have recourse to their assets.

Applicable law may restrict the extent to which shareholder liability may be limited. For example, liability for personal injury or death is typically not subject to elimination. Nonrecourse debt involves high capital expenditures (CapEx), long loans, and uncertain revenue. Underwriting these loans requires financial modeling skills and sound knowledge of the underlying technical domain.

To reduce the risk of deficiency balances, lenders typically limit loan-to-value (LTV) ratios to 60% in nonrecourse loans. As a result, borrowers face stricter credit standards, and the loans carry higher interest rates than recourse loans, reflecting their greater risk.

Comparing Recourse and Nonrecourse Loans

If two people purchase large assets, such as homes, and one has a recourse loan while the other has a nonrecourse loan, the financial institution’s actions against each borrower will differ.

In both cases, the homes may be collateral, meaning they can be seized should either borrower default. To recoup costs when the borrowers default, the financial institutions can attempt to sell the homes and use the sale price to pay down the associated debt. However, if the homes are sold for less than the amount owed, the lender can pursue the borrower with a recourse loan for the remaining debt. With nonrecourse loans, borrowers only lose their property if they default, owing nothing more.

Distinguishing Project Finance from Corporate Finance

Project and corporate finance are key concepts in finance. Both of these funding methods rely on debt and equity to help businesses reach their financing goals, but they are very distinct.

Project finance is risky and costly, relying on a project’s future cash flow for repayment. On the other hand, corporate finance focuses on boosting shareholder value through various strategies, such as capital investment and taxation. Unlike project financing, shareholders receive an ownership stake in the company with corporate financing.

Some of the key features of corporate financing include:

• A company’s capital structure, which is a company’s funding of its operations and growth.
• The distribution of dividends, which represent a portion of the profits generated by a company and paid to shareholders.
• The management of working capital, or money used to fund a company’s day-to-day operations.

The Bottom Line

Project finance is a form of funding best suited for large, long-term projects like major infrastructure improvements or industrial developments. It relies on the project’s estimated future cash flow for repayment with minimal recourse. This allows companies to take on bigger projects without negatively impacting their balance sheets.

Project finance may carry higher risks due to its reliance on future income streams. However, it also offers a way to fund businesses in sectors where traditional corporate finance may not work or even be an option.