We act as a catalyst to delivery through our keen understanding of all PPP project stakeholders’ interests – one reason why we're recognised as the leading global technical advisor by the likes of Infrastructure Journal and Partnerships Bulletin.
Lenders can take confidence in our ability to recognise both technical and commercial risks from the outset of our commission. We adopt a unique risk-based methodology which supports project bankability and facilitates deal progression.
With a global resource base of 16,000 staff, Mott MacDonald can field technical experts for all our clients in all market sectors and in any country where PFI/PPP procurement is being used or developed.
Breadth of team knowledge accelerates deal closure
Our PPP teams are selected for both their breadth of skill and depth of sector knowledge. This enables us to offer a wide skill base in PPP/PFI technical advisory matters including procurement expertise, public sector capacity building, sector-specific knowledge and facilities management.
This breadth and depth of international experience empowers us to understand the risks from all perspectives and help lenders to reach bankable, successful projects, as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Risk-based approach delivers value from the outset
Lenders and sponsors on PPP/PFI projects say that our particular due diligence methodology for quantifying risks is essential to accelerating the closure of their deals.
We use a rigorous risk-based approach, often working with the sponsor team before the technical and commercial package is ready for review, to identify key risks. We pinpoint and address commercial challenges at this early stage of deal development, ensuring that ‘make-or-break’ bankability issues don’t arise after the technical solution has been fixed.
Our team prides itself on not just identifying problems; but also finding solutions for our clients based on international best practice and hands-on familiarity with the commercial terms. Our approach is founded on the premises of:
- Ensuring stakeholders are fully aware of where risk items exist in the project
- Identifying areas that need to be developed to reduce risk and add value to the project
- Detailing recommended actions with the party best placed to manage the risk
We typically consider between 100 and 200 technical and commercial risks on each project, depending on the sector and project complexity, and quantify them into seven categories:
- Private partner consortia competence and capacity
- Technical risks (design and site conditions)
- Construction methodology and programme
- Facilities/asset management, operation and lifecycle
- Cost benchmarking and pricing
- Payment mechanism
- Contract risk allocation and magnitude
We present our results within a matrix formation which our clients report is one of the clearest methods for them to review, understand and action in the context of often significantly complex deals that generally come with a plethora of documentation.
We have strong relationships with the majority of active lenders and our expertise and mature position within the market enables us to lead the interactions of lender groups from both a technical and a commercial due diligence perspective.
Working with export credit agencies and IFIs
We have a long history and passion for international development work spanning over 50 years, and act as lead advisor to projects funded by major international financial institutions and investment banks.
Our comprehensive knowledge of export credit agencies’ key issues, sensitivities and information requirements, means that we are ideally placed to provide the necessary assurance to secure development bank funding.