GSBGEN 394

Global Project Finance

Graduate School of Business

Recommended for route(s):

[ Litigation ] Business Law: Commercial Transactions & Licensing

General course Description:

The course covers principles of project finance as well as fundamentals of infrastructure project development, public-private partnerships, and principal investment in the burgeoning infrastructure asset class. The course provides a conceptual framework for how to think about structuring, de-risking, and financing large, complex, capital-intensive projects in the transportation, energy, communications, and social infrastructure sectors.

The course examines the range of public and private sources of finance currently available for infrastructure projects in developed and developing countries. It covers benefits and disadvantages of project finance as a financing style, major participants in project finance transactions, and risk allocation and mitigation. It reviews the financial, economic, political, social, environmental, and technological factors that influence project structures, processes, and performance.

The course involves a combination of lectures, case-studies, discussions, guest speakers, and a final project. For the case-studies and discussions, students will be asked to assume much of the responsibility for the quality of sessions by reading all required materials, raising questions, and participating actively. For the final project, self-selected student teams work with industry mentors, typically on a live transactions or assignments.

Prominent industry leaders and former students participate in many of the class sessions. Speakers and panelists in previous years have included infrastructure experts from a cross-section of infrastructure funds, transaction advisors, contractors, engineering companies, and law firms; as well as investment banks, commercial banks, insurance companies, multilateral institutions, and pension funds.

The student composition tends to be 1/3 GSB, 1/3 engineering, and 1/3 other departments at Stanford University including Law School, Management Science and Engineering, and Financial Mathematics. The small class-size and cross-disciplinary format makes for dynamic discussions and a strong alumni group.

Students who have taken the class have had the opportunity to build relationships with executives in organizations such as AECOM, Arup, Bechtel, BNP Paribas, Ferrovial, Goldman Sachs, Highstar Capital, Macquarie, Morgan Stanley, Parsons Brinkerhoff, Santander, Table Rock Capital, Taylor deJongh, and other brand name infrastructure teams and organizations.

Students who have a strong desire to enter the fields of infrastructure development, finance, or investment will benefit from this course most directly. Students who are unsure about the fit of the course with their long term personal and professional interests are encouraged to reach out to the instructor at rjorr@stanford.edu to learn more.

Course Style: A Substantive course teaches the law, theory, and policy in a particular area of law

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