Infrastructure Project Finance and Project Bonds in Europe, 2015

Project sponsors in Europe are facing more and more difficulty when acquiring conventional long-term bank loans for infrastructure projects. The regulatory landscape for debt markets will evolve further with implementation of Basel III requirements. Recently, the Asset Quality Review under the European Central Bank's Comprehensive Assessment process, and related pressures on banks' balance sheets, have constrained bank long-term lending. This has led to much discussion on non-conventional bank funding options for infrastructure deals in the future. This book analyses the project bond financing solution in detail, identifying all the specific features that make it highly suitable for large capital intensive infrastructure projects. The first part of the book assesses the main characteristics and prerequisites of project finance, including public-private partnership, infrastructure project assets and greenfield versus brownfield projects. It then discusses the European infrastructure project finance market in detail, before comparing bank conventional lending versus the project bond solution. In the final part of the book, the author presents the Europe 2020 project bond initiative, and reveals a range of key case studies and their findings.

Introduction PART I: PROJECT FINANCE 1.1. General Overview 1.2. Main Characteristics Of Project Finance 1.3. Pre-Requisites To Project Finance 1.4. Public-Private Partnership 1.5. Key Characteristics Of Infrastructure Project Assets 1.6. Financing The Infrastructure Projects 1.7. Greenfield Vs Brownfield Projects PART II: EUROPEAN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT FINANCE MARKET 2.1. Western Europe 2.1.1. Volumes, Developments And Financing In Western Europe 2.2. CEE 2.2.1. Volumes, Developments And Financing In CEE 2.3. Infrastructure Sectors 2.3.1. Toll Roads 2.3.2. Airports/Ports 2.3.3. Healthcare Facilities 2.4. Infrastructure: A New Asset Class? PART III: BANK CONVENTIONAL LENDING VS PROJECT BOND SOLUTION 3.1. Banking Landscape 3.2. Key Characteristics Of Bond Financing 3.3. Bank Loan Vs Project Bonds PART IV: THE EUROPE 2020 PROJECT BOND INITIATIVE 4.1. General Overview 4.2. Case Studies-PBI 2020 Pilot Phase 4.2.1. Castor Gas Storage Spain 4.2.2. OFTO Greater Gabbard UK 4.2.3. A11 Belgian Motorway Project 4.2.4. A7 Autobahn PPP Germany 4.3. Case Studies' Findings 4.4. Structural Issues Of The Initiative 4.5. Concluding Remarks PART V: CASE STUDIES IN CEE