14| INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING
"THERE'S NO
LACK OF CAPITAL.
THERE PROBABLY
WAS IN THE FIRST
SIX MONTHS
OR YEAR AFTER
EVERYTHING CAME
CRASHING DOWN
IN THE FINANCIAL
CRISIS IN 2008.
THE AVAILABILITY
JUST DRIED UP.
BUT IN THE LAST
COUPLE OF YEARS
THE MONEY HAS
BEEN THERE AND
THERE IS ACTUALLY
COMPETITION
TO GET GOOD
INVESTMENTS."
It's an asset class that both money
managers looking to diversify and
long-term investors like the big banks and
pension funds, who are looking to hedge
against long-term liabilities, find increasingly attractive.
"There's no lack of capital," says Greg
Lewis, leader of the P3 group at Bull,
Housser & Tupper LLP in Vancouver.
"There probably was in the first six
months or year after everything came
crashing down in the financial crisis in
2008. The availability just dried up.
"But in the last couple of years the
money has been there and there is actually
competition to get good investments.
There are all kinds of infrastructure funds
and pension funds and life insurance
companies looking to put their money
into solid investments that pay more than
2 per cent, or whatever you can get on a government or corporate bond."
The money may be there but the landscape
has changed since the credit crisis, with
many troubled European banks bowing
out of the Canadian infrastructure and P3
financing scene. While some have stayed –
German banks, in particular, are still active
in Canadian renewable energy infrastructure
projects – but most have not.
"The market has come back but with
different participants," says Carol Pennycook,
a partner at Davies Ward Phillips & Vineberg
LLP. "Pre-2008 most of the long-term
financing we saw was heavily weighted to
syndicates of primarily European banks with
French, Spanish, some UK banks like Bank
of Ireland and Royal Bank of Scotland, which
we're not seeing in the market now.
"But while we're seeing very few Spanish
or French banks, we are seeing the Japanese
banks coming back into long-term lending.
And we've seen a huge, and I really mean huge,
increase in bond financing. So I think the
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Lexpert®Ranked Lawyers
Emakpor, Tobor
Estrin, David
Osler, Hoskin
& Harcourt LLP
(416) 862-4268
temakpor@osler.com
Gowling Lafleur
Henderson LLP
(416) 862-4301
david.estrin@
gowlings.com
Mr. Emakpor's
experience includes
leading P3 projects
acting for procuring
authorities, equity
sponsors, lenders and
sub-contractors in
Canada, the UK and
West Africa with an
emphasis on the health
care, education and
transportation sectors.
ROB-Infrastructure.indd 14
Mr. Estrin advises
government agencies,
corporations, financial
institutions, Aboriginal
people and law
firms in all facets of
environmental law. He
has appeared as counsel
in Ontario, Alberta and
federal courts, and before
environmental tribunals.
Fairey, Peter D.
Fews, Stefan
Finch, Simon A
Finlay, QC, David G.
Ford,
Gowling Lafleur
Henderson LLP
(604) 891-2266
peter.fairey@
gowlings.com
Stikeman Elliott LLP
(514) 397-6493
sfews@stikeman.com
Blake, Cassels &
Graydon LLP
(416) 863-2159
simon.finch@blakes.com
Bennett Jones LLP
(780) 917-5236
finlayd@
bennettjones.com
Torys
(416)
dford
Mr. Finch acts
for domestic and
international financial
institutions on a wide
range of secured lending
transactions. His project
finance practice has a
particular focus on
the mining sector.
Mr. Finlay acts in the
acquisition, development,
leasing and financing
of commercial and
industrial real estate
developments. He also
advises on corporate
and governance issues,
and counsels public and
private clients in the
health sector.
Mr. Fairey has a 32-year
diversified corporate/
commercial private M&A
practice, including PPP
and alternative energy.
His PPP mandates
include acting for BC on
the Canada Line, and
on over 20 port, highway
and social/hospital
projects.
Mr. Fews focuses on
commercial real estate,
secured financing and
JVs. He acts for pension
funds and institutional
investors in negotiating
and structuring
partnerships and other
entities for real estate
transactions in Canada
and abroad.
13-08-06 10:03 AM
Mr. Fo
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