Due diligence and financial close

0:00 The day the money can flow

A developer spends two years preparing a solar project. The contracts are agreed. The lenders have approved the credit. The model is audited. And the money still can't flow, because one land lease registration is stuck in a government office. Financial close isn't a celebration date you set. It's the moment every finance document is signed and every condition precedent to the first drawdown is satisfied or waived. In this lecture you'll learn what financial close means, the due diligence workstreams that feed the lenders' base case, the step-by-step path to close, how to run a conditions precedent checklist, what happens with interest rate hedging at close, and how to handle a close that slips. By the end, you'll be able to build and manage a CP tracker that gets a deal over the line.

0:59 Why it matters

Why does this matter? Until close, sponsors fund development costs at risk. If the project fails to close, advisers' fees, bid costs and early works may all be lost, which is why development capital demands high returns and why sponsors stage their spending. When close slips, the costs mount: bid bonds need extending, contractors need standby arrangements, and hedging rates can move against you. And due diligence isn't a formality. Its findings feed directly into the lenders' base case, the covenants and sometimes the gearing. A sponsor who understands the process can steer it. One who doesn't gets steered.

1:42 The concept: diligence workstreams

Think of due diligence like a thorough medical before a long expedition. Several specialists each examine one system. The lenders' technical adviser, or independent engineer, asks whether the design is sound, whether capex, schedule, opex and performance assumptions are reasonable, and whether the EPC contractor is capable. Legal counsel checks that contracts are enforceable and consistent, security is effective and permits are in place. The market or traffic adviser tests demand and price forecasts where there's merchant or user-pays risk. The insurance adviser checks that cover is adequate and assignable to lenders. The model auditor checks the model calculates correctly and reflects the contracts. The tax adviser checks treatment. The environmental and social consultant checks compliance with standards such as the IFC Performance Standards and the Equator Principles. And lenders run know-your-customer, sanctions and anti-money-laundering checks. Together, these reports produce the lenders' base case and support each lender's credit approval.

2:47 The path to close

The path to close, step by step. One, agree the term sheet with lenders: pricing, tenor, sizing criteria and key covenants. Two, due diligence, with findings resolved or mitigated. Three, credit approval by each lender. Four, documentation: the facility agreement, the intercreditor agreement, security documents, the accounts agreement, direct agreements with key counterparties, and hedging agreements. Five, the model audit completed and the base case agreed. Six, the conditions precedent checklist satisfied: signed project contracts, permits, legal opinions, insurance certificates, corporate approvals, equity commitments, hedging executed and fees paid. And seven, signing and close, with the first drawdown following the agreed funding mechanism, often equity first, then pro rata with debt.

3:35 Worked example one: a CP tracker in practice

Let's read a simple CP tracker from the lesson. CP one: EPC contract executed and effective. Done, with a signed copy as evidence. CP two: offtake agreement executed. Done. CP three: environmental permit issued. Pending, expected on the twelfth of March. That one depends on a government body, so it gets a red flag for dependency even though it's amber for status. CP four: legal opinions under local and English law. Draft. CP five: insurance certificates naming lenders. Done. CP six: hedging. Scheduled for close. CP seven: model audit report. Final draft. CP eight: equity commitment letter signed. Done. Notice the three questions for every line: who owns it, what evidence is required, and what does it depend on? Those three columns turn a list into a management tool.

4:31 Worked example two: a delayed close in KSA

Now the realistic example from the lesson. A fictional solar independent power project in Saudi Arabia reached agreed documentation, but one land-lease registration was delayed. Lenders wouldn't waive that condition, because land rights were core to their security. So the sponsor did three things. It extended the bid bond. It negotiated an extension of the scheduled commercial operation date with the offtaker, so the delay didn't trigger penalties. And it kept the EPC contractor mobilised under a limited notice to proceed, funded by equity, so construction time wasn't lost. Financial close happened six weeks later. The lesson: conditions that depend on government processes need early tracking and a contingency plan. Six months out is when to escalate, not six days.

5:23 Watch me do it: a CP dashboard

Let me show you the CP dashboard I'd run from about six months before target close. Columns: CP reference, condition, owner, evidence required, what it depends on, realistic date, status. Then a slack column: target close date minus the realistic date. Anything with negative slack is red, anything under two weeks is amber. A dependency column flags items that depend on a government body, a third-party consent or another CP, because those are where closes slip. At the top, a summary panel: how many done, pending and at risk, and the CP with the least slack. That panel drives a weekly status call with owners. The spreadsheet isn't sophisticated. What makes it work is that every line has a named owner and a realistic date, not a hopeful one.

6:19 Hedging at close, development risk and mistakes

Two final points. Hedging: interest rate swaps are usually executed at or just before financial close to lock in rates on the lenders' base case. Rates can move between bid and close, so bids sometimes include rate adjustment mechanisms, and some contracts adjust the tariff or unitary charge at close to reflect actual swap rates. And the common mistakes: starting critical permits and land processes too late; discovering inconsistencies between project contracts during legal due diligence; a model not updated for final negotiated terms before the audit; underestimating adviser costs and time in development budgets; and poor CP tracking, which causes last-minute delays. Almost all of these are solved by starting earlier and tracking dependencies honestly.

7:09 Recap and try this now

Let's recap. Financial close is when all finance documents are signed and every condition precedent to the first drawdown is satisfied or waived. It follows due diligence across technical, legal, market, insurance, model, tax, environmental and social, and compliance workstreams, which together produce the lenders' base case. The path runs from term sheet to diligence, credit approval, documentation, model audit, CPs and signing. Development costs are at risk until close, so track CPs rigorously, especially those that depend on government bodies or third parties, and escalate early. Your try-this-now: draft a ten-item CP checklist for a hypothetical project, with an owner, the evidence required, the dependencies and a realistic date for each.