PMFORUM Breaking News

Several of the world's leading project finance authorities have been lined up to speak at the North America West Coast Infrastructure Partnerships conference in Los Angeles in October. This conference related to Public Private Partnerships (P3) for major infrastructure projects will be held during 14-15 October 2008 at the Four Seasons hotel in Los Angeles, California, USA.

At 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday, 14 October, a panel of Project Finance Experts will "Survey project financing and corporate lending for P3 infrastructure projects". Connor Kelly, Managing Director of Depfa Bank, Nicholas Hann, Executive Director Macquarie Capital Markets Canada Limited, and Kevin O'Brien, Director of Merrill Lynch & Co., will address the following topics:

• Examining debt and equity ratios across P3 projects and identifying typical funding models
• Identifying the availability and sources of debt financing for both P3 and conventional project financing
• Analyzing credit ratings, refinancing activity and secondary markets for projects

They will be followed by a group of P3 project financing experts who will discuss the topic of "Equity & Infra Funds - Identifying the drivers and benefits for equity partners investing in P3 infrastructure projects". Catherine Deluz, Vice President/Senior Analyst on Project and Infrastructure Finance for Moody's Investor Service and Dr. Stefan Parche, PPP North America for Babcock & Brown LP (plus other selected speakers), will address:

• Surveying current private equity trends in infrastructure projects
• Examining evolving funding structures and models for private equity partners
• What role might infrastructure funds play in the development of P3s?

The topic of funding large public infrastructure projects has never been more important. Public private partnership (P3) models for delivering public and private finance for social and hard infrastructure projects are being developed and applied in the Western United States and in Canada and Mexico. The west coast of North America is being transformed under these partnerships. With the British Columbia projects in Canada and Mexico border projects, West Coast North America is now a region of choice for global project finance. Organizations that want to learn about or participate in these big programs and projects should consider attending.

The North America West Coast Infrastructure Partnership conference in Los Angles will showcase opportunities for private sector organizations to get involved in public infrastructure projects across the Western USA, Canada and Mexico. It will also be an opportunity to meet some of the major participants, from owners representatives to global financing organizations.

The 1.5 day conference will be held at the Los Angeles Four Seasons hotel. Organizers are PFI conferences, a division of Thomson Reuters. The conference will highlight current and ongoing opportunities for funding organizations, sponsors, contractors and project advisors. A major networking opportunity and the only regional conference of its kind this year, the PFI West Coast Infrastructure conference will be an important event for global and regional partnership professionals and organizations. For information, visit http://www.pficonferences.com/pfi_west_coast_2008/conference_home.aspx