Comprehensive project finance from a global leader

SMBC Group is recognised as a global leader in project finance with strong product knowledge and dedicated professionals in London and in financial centres across Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and around the world.

SMBC Group offers global sponsors a comprehensive service by providing dedicated financial advisory for bids and acquisitions, and a full range of debt products. This includes long-tenor loans and agency services to project bonds and derivatives. SMBC Group’s specialist teams offer products and services with a particular focus on energy, natural resources, transport, social infrastructure and asset acquisitions.

The bank has been active in project finance since the early 1990s, and its dedicated London team has advised, arranged and provided finance for over 400 projects across Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

SMBC is proud to be recognised as

Global Bank of the Year


by Project Finance International.

PFI Awards
 

A STRONG RECORD OF LEAD ARRANGING PROJECT FINANCE

Limited and non-recourse debt financing

  • Multilateral companies, utilities and engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors
  • National, regional and local governments
  • Commodity buyers and end-users
  • Infrastructure and energy fund managers and financial investors
  • Project developers

Services

  • Financial advisory
  • Mandated lead arranger
  • Loans and letters of credit
  • Construction and acquisition finance
  • Bond and equity underwriter N1
  • Private placement and project bonds N1
  • Interest rate swap, inflation swap and foreign exchange N2
  • Asset securitisation N1
  • Cross-border M&As N1
  • Export credit agency (ECA) coordinator and advisor
  • Agency services (including administrative, ECA, intercreditor, collateral, security and account banking)
  • Debt underwriting
  • Fronting of institutional investors for multiple tree transactions
  • Subscription financing

 

N1 Products and services provided by SMBC Nikko
N2 Products and services provided by SMBC Nikko in the UK and non-EEA countries

YOUR PREFERRED FUNDING PARTNER

<h3>YOUR PREFERRED FUNDING PARTNER</h3>

New energies and natural resources

The new energies and natural resources team is responsible for providing structured financing solutions to support our clients focused on developing new energies, as well as to support the transition of conventional natural resources producers to a low-carbon economy.

The team has a strong track record in advisory and lead arranging roles, such as documentation, technical and environmental bank and bookrunner.

Our approach is to proactively work together with our clients to identify opportunities, propose adapted financing solutions for their projects, and contribute to their sustainability agenda.

The team has excellent business relationships with international energy companies together with the major Japanese trading companies and contractors. It has experience working with ECAs and multilateral agencies, as well as in Islamic finance and capital markets.

New and transitional energy project types

  • Hydrogen
  • Carbon capture, utilisation and storage
  • Biofuels and geothermal
  • Circular economy

Conventional energy project types

  • Gas and LNG
  • Midstream and pipelines
  • Downstream and petrochemicals

Renewable energy

SMBC Group has an established track record within the EMEA region for renewable energy project financing, having participated in wind, solar and energy transition projects totalling more than US$99bn. With a total portfolio capacity in excess of 42 gigawatts, the bank’s EMEA renewable energy portfolio delivers more than 132 terawatt hours of clean energy every year, enough to supply 45 million households.*

SMBC Group regards renewable energy as one of its most important sectors for growth within the utility industry, and will continue to provide financing to clean energy projects throughout the EMEA region as the market matures.

Project types

  • Wind – onshore, offshore and transmission
  • Solar – concentrated solar power and solar photovoltaics
  • Energy transition

Power, utilities, mining & metals

SMBC Group has a strong track record in arranging water and power utilities project finance transactions on a global basis. It is a leading bank that provides financing support to customers in relation to water and power projects tendered in the Middle East.

The bank has underwritten and arranged debt for such projects exceeding US$74bn, with a total capacity in excess of 61 gigawatts and 2,700 million imperial gallons per day in the Middle East.* As one of the most important sectors for growth within the utilities industry, the bank will continue to provide financing to sustainable and cost efficient energy projects.

Project types

  • Combined heat and power (CHP)
  • Independent power production (IPP)
  • Independent water production (IWP)
  • Independent water and power production (IWPP)
  • Independent water, steam and power production (IWSPP)
  • Metals – aluminium smelters
  • Mining
  • Transmission of electricity and gas
  • Utilities – air separation and cooling
  • Wastewater – sewage treatment plants

Infrastructure

SMBC Group maintains a leading position in the United Kingdom and continental European infrastructure markets. It has become the arranger of choice for the leading infrastructure sponsors in EMEA.

The bank has been active in the infrastructure and public-private partnership (PPP) market in the UK since the inception of such schemes. With many countries in Europe and beyond accessing private finance for the delivery of public services, the bank is providing a platform for infrastructure growth across EMEA.

In addition to the well-established sectors of health and education, SMBC Group also provides a market-leading service for growth areas such as smart meters and grids, social housing, water and waste water, urban regeneration, infrastructure asset acquisitions and fund financing.

Project types

  • Defence
  • Education – schools, colleges and universities
  • Emergency services
  • Healthcare
  • Law and justice
  • Smart meters and smart grids
  • Social housing
  • Sports and leisure
  • Street lighting
  • Urban regeneration
  • Waste and wastewater

Transport

SMBC Group has extensive experience in providing project finance across the transport industry for rail, rolling stock, roads, airports and seaports. The transport team works with many of the key European contractors, advisers, and public authorities at both local and national level. The team members have experience as advisers, and as mandated lead arrangers of major European transport projects.

Project types

  • Roads – availability-based road concessions, shadow and real toll roads, highway maintenance and road user charging
  • Rail and rolling stock – light and heavy rail, passenger trains, freight wagons and locomotives
  • Airports and seaports

See aviation finance and maritime finance for financing of aircraft and shipping assets.

Telecoms

SMBC Group has an established footprint in the European telecoms sector, financing a range of core national and regional communications infrastructure projects. The bank has supported leading global developers of data centres and national internet service providers as bookrunner and lead arranger on some of the most recent digital infrastructure transactions in the EMEA region.

Project types

  • Fibre-optical cables
  • Towers
  • Data centres

 

*Figures as of January 2023.

ACQUISITION FINANCE

SMBC Group has been active in the infrastructure acquisition finance market since 2004, and has been involved at a structuring level in many landmark acquisition transactions. The team’s industry expertise in infrastructure, transport and energy has enabled the bank to be active across these fields when assets for sale have come onto the market. The bank is committed to playing a leading role in the infrastructure and energy acquisition market.

ADVISORY SERVICES

The project finance advisory team has deep experience and knowledge in providing a full range of financial advisory services in the energy, natural resources and infrastructure sectors in EMEA region and has a reputation as a capable financial advisor.

The demand for such services is significantly increasing as projects involve more and more complex structures and various players across borders. Through close communication with project sponsors and investors, and by leveraging the bank’s in-depth knowledge, SMBC Group regularly advises its customers on the best solutions and most viable structures for projects.

ECA AND MULTILATERAL FINANCE

SMBC has extensive experience with working with most ECAs, development financial institutions and multilateral agencies. See structured export finance for more information.