We have a highly experienced Infrastructure and Projects team that have been advising on major PPP/PFI projects for more than 20 years.
Our team advises clients through every stage of the project cycle dealing with procurement, construction, and project financing, together with all commercial and corporate aspects of the project. We have the technical capabilities to deliver the legal services required in the most efficient and effective way possible.
Our team is experienced in advising on PPP/PFI contracts across a number of different sectors including:
- Housing
- Leisure
- Care
- Transport
- Education
- Energy
- Public infrastructure (including MoD and HM Prison Service contracts)
We also regularly advise clients from all sides of the Infrastructure and Projects sector including procurers, sponsors, financiers and contractors. We believe that this enables us to have a far better understanding of the key drivers for each of the parties to a particular project. As a result we are able to deliver a better all-round service for our clients. It also means we have an understanding of the solutions to issues that are likely to be acceptable to project counter-parties.
Our Services
Typically, the services we provide include advising our clients on the following:
Project Development & Procurement:
- Project Agreement
- Construction & Operational sub-contracts
- Procurement
- Pensions and employment
Project Expiry and Re-Procurement
- Contract reviews
- Handback standards
- Extensions of term
Contract Management, Interpretation and Dispute Resolution
- Settlement agreements
- Remediation arrangements
- Deeds of variation
- Benchmarking
- Market Testing
Project Finance, Refinancings, Secondary Market and Restructuring:
- Bank Debt
- Capital Markets
Project Finance
As part of our Projects and Infrastructure Group we have a dedicated project finance team. It has provided project finance and related corporate and funding advice for over 25 years in a wide variety of sectors, including infrastructure, regeneration and housing and particularly in the context of PFI/PPP projects. Our broad range of experience across sectors means that we understand issues that will concern lenders. It also means we can advise you on how best to address those issues, having regard to the position in the wider projects market. We have advised on projects that have raised finance through capital markets bond issues, as well as projects involving commercial bank debt. As regards capital markets, we have advised on more than 40 listed bond issues and approximately 50 private placements. Members of our team have experience of working for and opposite to EIB.
Obtaining the Best Deal
Our Projects and Infrastructure Group has worked with virtually all of the main technical, financial and legal advisers operating in the PFI/PPP market. As such we are well attuned to the issues that affect PPP/PFI counter-parties and are ideally positioned to obtain the best deal for our client in the most efficient way possible.
Partner-led Approach
Our service delivery is focused on a partner-led “hands-on” approach. Our partners participate fully on a day-to-day basis on the transaction and are continually in touch with their clients. We consider having an available and experienced resource at hand is particularly important due to the complexity of PPP/PFI projects. That said we do not saturate projects with partners. There are many tasks with project documentation that do not justify partner input and these tasks are delegated to lawyers of an appropriate level. This approach means our clients receive value for money and benefit from the full expertise that the firm offers.
Our Projects team includes specialists in commercial contracts, property, construction, governance, banking, employment and disputes.
