We make things happen!

“Whether you’re a project or technology developer, a utility company, a financial institution, or a governmental agency, you can rely on our team of seasoned professionals. We have extensive industry experience across a wide range of sectors and we are ready to serve your needs.”

Gianmaria La Porta
Head of Management Consulting

Our Achievements:

• • • • Advised on 100+ PPP projects
      • Closed USD 30+ billion in financial deals
      • Delivered 100+ PMC mega & giga projects providing big data for future smart cities

ILF is ranked 5th among the Top 10 Technical Transaction Advisors in the energy, environment, power and transport sectors.*

*Source: inframationnews.com (2023)

Growth strategies are the result of increasing competitiveness in a broad market environment. Growth is also often the result of responding to trends in specific sectors. A market study makes it possible to evaluate markets, competitors, trends and success factors, as well as opportunities and risks in the target market. These insights are essential for making strategic business decisions. They show companies how to best maximize their growth potential and help with budgeting for planned projects.

Even the best planning and implementation of a project cannot rectify the mistakes made in the preceding project screening process. The greatest potential for optimization when creating new infrastructure lies in careful and diligent project selection based on clearly defined objectives. In order to be able to select the most appropriate projects from a pool of planned undertakings, goal-based criteria must be defined beforehand. Ideally, these criteria reflect the different requirements of the different types of infrastructure and the specific challenges associated with each type.

Pre-feasibility studies investigate whether a concept meets the client’s objectives and the technical, economic, social and environmental constraints for a particular project. These studies also provide an initial assessment of the conditions and assumptions under which a set of solutions is feasible and define the order of magnitude of the costs involved.

A project is only feasible and sustainable if its technical, economic, environmental, social and operational feasibility can be proven through appropriate investigations. Financial institutions, sponsors and investors will only invest in projects if appropriate solutions can be found for all of these aspects. A bankable feasibility study meets all these requirements, identifies different ways to finance a project, and defines the necessary prerequisites and conditions. In this way, the financial sustainability of the envisaged project is demonstrated to banks and other potential investors.

Master plans provide direction and guidance. Their development requires the integration of complex strategic, economic, regulatory, technical, social and environmental aspects. Their purpose is to develop a strategic approach to achieve defined objectives, taking into account short-, medium-, and long-term implementation phases.

The global effort to achieve higher standards of living requires the continuous improvement and expansion of the infrastructure and industrial sector. Meeting this challenge requires enormous investment. The process of screening and selecting suitable financing instruments for such projects is a major challenge worldwide and requires a multidisciplinary understanding of the respective framework conditions.

Organizational weaknesses can impede the achievement of goals by creating critical bottlenecks. Institutional strengthening is a process aimed at optimizing the internal structures and the institutional framework of an organization. The process involves a thorough analysis of the status quo, followed by improvement of the core functions of an organization. Institutional strengthening is a dynamic process that requires flexibility, learning and adaptation to changing circumstances. This implies a continuous iterative process of development.

Any major investment decision for either a greenfield or brownfield site requires a thorough analysis of complex issues, such as capital requirements, operating costs and commercial, contractual and regulatory aspects. Other important criteria that influence investment decisions are environmental performance, efficiency and the reliability of related supply chains. Clients looking to engage in transactions require a thorough analysis of these issues in order to ensure the continuity and sustainability of their potential investments.

Project financing is the key element in all types of investment in the industrial and infrastructure sector. Typically, a project developer will seek to finance a significant portion of the construction costs for a project by borrowing through a special purpose vehicle, usually in the form of a limited liability company. For this reason, financiers require a comprehensive risk assessment and a well-documented project basis before making any financing decisions, as well as an appropriate process to monitor the progress and quality of the project during its implementation.

In times when public budgets are getting tighter, the acceptance of alternative models for project procurement and delivery is growing. To meet the challenges of today’s complex infrastructure projects, more and more public institutions are looking to collaborate with private businesses in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs). In addition to providing access to private capital, PPPs make it possible to leverage the strengths and capacities of each partner and achieve optimal risk sharing. These models require careful structuring of respective responsibilities and contractual obligations, along with a well thought-out and sensible allocation of responsibilities and risks at each phase of the overall project life cycle.

In addition to excellent design and project implementation, optimized operations and proactive maintenance are prerequisites for the long-term success of industrial and infrastructure projects. The progressive aging of plant infrastructure and changing operational requirements and objectives present a constant challenge that requires flexible and professional teams and needs-driven, flexible and continuously optimized processes and programs.

Optimizing Productivity – Increasing the Value of your Assets – There is constant pressure to manage assets more efficiently and more effectively. This is driven primarily by changes in market conditions, regulatory requirements, policy, disruptive technologies and aging infrastructure, as well as risks and opportunities in asset procurement, operations and investment planning. The result is a need for regular and systematic review and alignment with global best practices.

Inadequate preparation is often the root cause of liability claims and other claims in the construction industry. Vague contractual terms and unclear scopes of work are two common causes of such claims. The latter issue is usually resolved by defining the scope of work in a step-by-step and detailed manner. However, a detailed discussion of the key construction contracts often does not take place until shortly before the start of the tendering procedure. Nevertheless, it is imperative that measures to avoid liability claims and other claims are taken as early as the tender document preparation phase.