Project Finance modelling query
Question for people who work directly with project finance models, particularly:
Sponsors / developers / asset managers
PF lenders / portfolio teams
Model auditors / financial modelling advisers
Facility agents / other advisers
I am interested in how the model lifecycle actually works after financial close. I am trying to understand market practice rather than test a particular view.
A few questions:
1. Who owns and maintains the model after close?
Does the financial-close model remain the main model, or do sponsor, lender and asset-management versions start to diverge?
2. What events normally cause the model to be updated?
For example: construction updates, term conversion, amendments, waivers, acquisitions, covenant issues, refinancing, sale, etc.
3. When a waiver or amendment is requested, what financial information normally accompanies it?
Is a revised model usually provided, or are decisions often made using forecasts, sensitivities, compliance certificates or other analysis?
4. If an updated model is provided to lenders, what is actually reviewed?
Who checks it, what do they check it against, and how much is typically re-performed versus relying on the previous model/review?
5. For model auditors: what normally triggers a post-close audit or limited-scope review, and who usually commissions it — sponsor, existing lender, new lender/buyer, or someone else?
6. For sponsors: between formal audits, how do you control changes to the model and financing documents?
7. For lenders: between formal model reviews, what gives you comfort that a model or covenant calculation being relied upon still reflects the current finance documents?
I would be particularly interested in where practice differs by role, jurisdiction or transaction type.
If replying, it would be useful if you could say whether you are coming from the lender, sponsor, auditor/adviser or agent side, and roughly which market/geography you work in. No client-specific information obviously.