Fargo-Moorhead Metropolitan Area Flood Risk Management P3 Project

When complete, this project will provide permanent and reliable flood protection to 235,000 residents of the Fargo-Moorhead-West Fargo Metro Area and surrounding rural communities. This complex and significant project delivered a number of important firsts in the US P3 market and its financial structure reflected the need to evolve the model in order to deliver the scheme. It is the first availability project in the US to be financed from three debt sources: a revolving credit facility; tax-exempt private activity bonds; and private placement notes. The scheme also made use of a $60m working capital facility to allow maximum flexibility for the joint venture. As the first climate resiliency P3 in the US, the financing structure was also able to achieve a ‘green’ financing label. With a complex arrangement for the overall funding structure from the authority’s side, which includes a federal WIFIA loan, the structure required deep analysis and significant investor/lender education to ensure all parties could be comfortable with the plan.