Glossary
Every term on these pages that is not everyday English. If something you meet is not here, say so when you send the application and we will add it.
Teaser
A one- or two-page summary sent to an investor before anything is signed. It is meant to get a meeting, not to explain the whole deal.
Information memorandum
Sometimes called a CIM. The long written document that sets out the transaction in full.
Financial model
The spreadsheet that produces the numbers. We need the working file with its formulas. A PDF or a values-only export cannot be checked.
Sponsor
You. The party promoting the project and putting it forward for finance.
Offtaker
Whoever contracts to buy what the project produces: power, water, ore, capacity, a service. Some deals have one, some sell on the open market.
Offtake agreement
The contract with that buyer. Whether it is signed, a draft, or a memorandum of understanding changes what a funder can lend against.
Memorandum of understanding
A written statement of intent between two parties. It may or may not bind them, and which it is matters a great deal to a lender.
Binding
The parties can be held to it. A non-binding document records an intention and can be walked away from.
Greenfield
Built from nothing on a new site.
Brownfield
An existing asset being expanded, refurbished or acquired.
Capex
Capital expenditure. What it costs to build or acquire the asset, as opposed to what it costs to run.
Opex
Operating expenditure. The cost of running the asset year to year.
Concession
A right granted by a public authority to build or operate something for a period, usually with rules on price and service.
PPP
A public-private partnership: a contract under which a private party builds or runs public infrastructure and is paid by, or through, the state.
SPV
A special purpose vehicle. A company set up to hold one project and nothing else.
Debt service
The interest and principal payments due on borrowings.
Coverage ratio
How many times over the cash the project generates covers what it owes in the same period.
Due diligence
The verification stage: independent checking of what has been claimed. It comes after this one.
Data room
The secure folder of underlying documents assembled for that verification. You are not being asked for one here.
Term sheet
A short document setting out the main commercial terms of a proposed deal before full contracts are drafted.