As the top region for project finance investment in 2012 (IJ Global PF Infrastructure Review FY 2012: Regions) the attractiveness and abundance of investment opportunity in the Americas is undeniable

Global infrastructure M&A activity has perhaps been the aspect of infrastructure investment most resilient to the financial crisis – and currently most active

Overall the total direct equity invested into project finance transactions in 2012 fell to around US$31 billion, down from US$44 billion the year before. Within that only tax equities recorded a rise, with cash equity declining by 15 per cent, grants by a massive 99 per cent and equity bridge loans decreasing by 48 per cent.

Global infrastructure markets have suffered since the onset of the financial crisis, witnessing a fall in the number of closed deals and a concomitant slump in the associated capital financing of projects. This downward trend has seen infrastructure demand outstrip capital supply, a funding gap that continues to increase. Whilst the OECD may estimate that the world needs US$50 trillion of global i

The landscape of debt funding (bank loans, bonds, IFI loans, government support, ECA financing), the traditional source of funding of infrastructure projects, is changing; the current economic climate coupled with new regulatory initiatives affecting the ways banks lend and capital markets operate.

2012 was a difficult year for PPP participants, even in comparison to the dire market conditions of four years ago, as the global PPP market dipped following a deteriorating economic environment across its active markets.

Despite overtaking power as the principle generation source for the first time, 2012 was a hard year for renewables, with both project value and volume sharply declining on 2011 figures

The spectre of the economic crisis loomed large over Transport project finance in 2012, with the year-on-year uptick seen between 2009 and 2011 completely wiped out