Our financial services team is undoubtedly one of most experienced project finance groups of any South African law firm, boasting an exceptional track record in acting on innovative domestic and multi-jurisdictional deals.

It has become imperative for any project finance team in today's environment to be creative and innovative. Increasingly, the players in the project finance market are becoming more sophisticated and demanding; and sponsors and financiers are looking to ever more complex and sophisticated project structures to extract the maximum benefit obtainable from projects. The group is on the cutting edge of project transactions that can combine limited recourse financing with other disciplines, such as asset acquisitions, project bonds, securitisation of project equity streams and loan portfolios, leasing and derivatives products.

We act for lenders, sponsors and public sector bodies across a range of industry sectors such as transport, infrastructure, oil and gas, power, telecommunications and mining and metals.

Recognising the importance of addressing historical imbalances in South African communities and commercial sectors; the group has gained substantive experience in structuring financial transactions encompassing black empowerment (BEE) partners and deals. We advised on the first BEE project finance mining venture, which is still the largest such transaction to date.

We have significant experience in infrastructure development projects, concessions and management contracts. Bell Dewar is a member of the International Project Finance Association (IPFA).

Contact: Lara Bezuidenhoudt