The Bowman Gilfillan Project Finance and Infrastructure Group specialises in providing high quality, relevant and cost-effective legal services for major infrastructure and other projects in South Africa and other African countries. The group offers in depth knowledge with a substantial skills base and has been involved in several of South Africa’s ground breaking project finance transactions as well as advising domestic and international corporations, banks and financial institutions, state owned enterprises and government departments.

The Project Finance and Infrastructure Group’s proven track record of clear and concise legal advice, financial negotiation and structuring expertise offers clients the necessary depth of experience to successfully conclude negotiations and projects.

EXPERTISE

The Project Finance and Infrastructure Group has relevant and extensive experience acting for all parties in infrastructure finance transactions. In particular, we can provide specialist advice on:

• Public / Private Partnerships
• Empowerment transactions
• Cross-border financing
• Export credit transactions
• Regulatory aspects of transactions, including competition, exchange control and environmental regulations
• Transaction negotiation for both lenders and borrowers
• Security structures
• Infrastructure projects in an African context
• Syndicated loans

PROJECT EXPERIENCE

OUR RECENT PROJECTS INCLUDE:

• PPP Concession - Department of Education: Advising the Financiers on the funding of the Private Public Partnership Concession for the development and operation of a new head office for the Department of Education.
  
  
• PPP Concession - Department of Trade and Industries: Advising Rainprops, the consortium awarded the R870 million PPP concession for construction and operation of the new head office for the Department of Trade and Industry.
  
  
• PPP Concession - Bakwena Platinum Highway: Advising one of the contractors and main participants in the US$ Bakwena Platinum Highway from Pretoria to Lobatse in Botswana.
  
  
• Boksburg Prisons Project: Advisors to Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank and African Merchant Bank (as joint underwriters) in the R250 million Boksburg Prison Project.
  
  
• Central African DFI Funding: Advisors to a South African development finance institution in its provision of an Export Credit Insurance Corporation-insured facility of US$100 million to a borrower for a project in central Africa.
  
  
• Marromeu Sugar Project: Principal advisors to the Financiers (which included SCMB, the IDC, DBSA, Mauritian Commercial Bank and four syndicated Mozambiquan Banks) for the US$66 million financing of a project to resurrect the sugar industry of Marromeu in the Zambezi Valley in Mozambique.
  
  
• South African Low Income Housing Project: Advising the United States Government, in the form of its overseas investment agency, and certain United States-based corporations and charitable trusts, on the funding of a Low Income Housing Project in the Republic of South Africa.
  
  
• Mozambique Development Project: Advising the United States Government in the form of its overseas investment agency in its financing of a development in Mozambique.
  
  
• DRC/Zambia Electricity Interconnector: Advising Copperbelt Energy Corporation on the second cross-border electricity interconnector between DRC and Zambia. The project involves the upgrade engineering, construction and commissioning of a second tie line in both countries, and long term transfer, operating and maintenance agreements.
  
  
• Target Mine: Advising the Financiers (which included Deutsche Bank and Standard Corporate and Merchant Bank) on the financing of the Target Mine in the Northern Province for Avgold.
  
  
• Freegold Mine: Advisors to ARMgold in its joint venture with Harmony for the financing of its acquisition of Anglogold's Freegold assets.
  
  
• Maandagshoek Platinum Mine: Advising ARM Consortium in its joint venture with Anglo Platinum for the Maandagshoek Platinum Mine and its project finance borrowing from BoE for the purposes of financing its share of the joint venture.
  
  
• ESKOM Letter of Credit Facility: South African counsel to ABN Amro and Dresdner Bank (as joint arrangers and agents) in a US$500 million Letter of Credit Facility arrangement for Eskom.
  
  
• TELKOM Multi-Currency Syndicated Loan: South African counsel to ABN Amro and Dresdner Bank (as joint arrangers and agents) in the US$150 million multi-currency syndicated loan arrangement for Telkom.
  
  
• Mozambique Gas Concession: Advising Matola Gas, the consortium awarded the concession for the transmission of natural gas from Ressano Garcia to Maputo and the distribution and supply of gas in Maputo.
  
  
• Kruger Mpumalanga Airport: Advising ABB in the development and operation of the new international airport.
  
  
• ECA Supported Finance Transactions: The Project Finance and Infrastructure Group have been involved in advising on several ECA supported finance transactions over the past year