Fasken has a rich experience in project finance and our professional team has travelled the world to help clients conclude these transactions. Financings have covered projects in South and Central America, the Caribbean, Asia, Africa, Eastern, Central and Western Europe, Australia, the UK and, of course, North America. The firm's grounding in both the common and civil law systems has facilitated our understanding of issues raised by local laws and the many languages spoken by our staff have eased communication. The firm's London and Johannesburg offices have assisted in many ways, including in terms of proximity to key industry players as well as attenuating challenges associated with time-zone differences.
Our Clients
The firm's project finance clients include private and public (NGO, etc.) lenders within and outside Canada, project sponsors and suppliers, and other industry participants. As a result of this diverse experience, our professionals bring a full appreciation of the issues and concerns of other participants in the transaction, helping the parties arrive at a successful conclusion.
Our Expertise
The firm has participated in a variety of projects including energy (hydroelectric, co-generation, renewables, independent power and related), oil and gas (upstream, downstream and pipeline), ethylene glycol, ethanol, major infrastructure projects, mining, forestry products, utilities, transportation (including both transportation systems and facilities, as well as financings of individual assets), telecommunications and media. Fasken is a recognized leader in many of these industries, and our experience in many facets of transactions allows us to bring greater familiarity with the core industry issues surrounding a transaction. For example, the firm's Global Mining Group is known around the world as a leading provider of services to the mining industry and its financiers and investors. Our firm was the first law firm to sponsor the well-known Indaba Conference in Cape Town, and our lawyers attend and participate in conferences, seminars and other industry gatherings around the world and hold leading roles with industry bodies.
In addition to the core finance aspects that accompany a project finance mandate, counsel may be called upon to provide advice in the following areas of law in which the firm has recognized expertise: securities and capital market, financial and commodity derivatives, environmental, construction, transportation, partnerships, joint ventures and similar arrangements, competition, income, commodity, and customs, and other taxes and duties. In a number of significant and high-profile projects, the firm has acted on a first-call basis for sponsors or other participants. The firm's litigation, insolvency and labour groups are recognized leaders in their own right, and many project finance clients, including lenders and sponsors, have taken comfort from our ability to assist in litigation, ADR and proceedings before labour and other tribunals, as well as our experience in the enforcement of creditors' rights and the provision of assistance to debtors in difficulty (whether through formal proceedings or in work-outs and restructuring).
