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Construction

The construction industry in Sri Lanka is undergoing a period of unprecedented growth. Spearheaded by the USD $15 billion Colombo Port City development, the evolving skyline of Colombo comprises of a number of mixed, commercial, and residential developments.

Our team is well equipped to deliver a broad range of legal services encompassing all phases of a construction project from procurement, to negotiation and formation of contracts, to administration and completion. Our approach is to assist our clients in circumventing risks and to do so in a cost-effective manner.

We are committed to providing practical solutions grounded by commercial reasoning to the intricate technical and legal issues, which arise at various stages of the construction and development process. Our extensive clientele in the construction industry includes local and foreign developers in addition to owners, investors, local and international lenders and contractors.

We advise clients on several large-scale and complex mixed, commercial, and residential projects, and provide tailored contracts and related documentation with the objective of seeing our clients' objectives through to fruition.

Our service offering extends to providing strategic advice on the structuring of projects as well as project finance and consultancy services. We also regularly advise on disputes, and provide assistance in obtaining approvals, licences, and permits for construction projects.

 

Project Development

Our clients regularly rely on our assistance in fulfilling their ambitious large-scale developments. Such ventures are subject to inherent challenges, including: structuring and financing issues; government regulations; construction, offtake and other contractual issues; cross border coordination including unavoidable elements of political risk.

Over the years, we have advised on numerous projects on the basis of Build, Own and Operate (BOT); Build Own Operate Transfer (BOOT) and Build Operate Own (BOO). We negotiate with the relevant authorities on behalf of prospective investors and guide them through all the legal requirements and issues relating to their ventures.

We regularly advise sponsors, developers and project companies on issues encountered in the complete project life cycle - from acquisition to development to financing, to construction, administration and completion. Our expertise extends to a broad range of project financings, including commercial bank loans, syndicated loans, export credit agency, and other bilateral/multilateral facilities, mezzanine financing and project bonds.

Our clients benefit from our deep understanding of the major sectors such as power generation and all forms of renewable energy, oil and gas, infrastructure, mining and minerals, and telecommunications.

Our firm also assists with the negotiations and finalisation of the loan and security documentation. We also assist sponsors and project companies in negotiations with state bodies to facilitate the issuance of required licences / approvals as well as to obtain maximum concessions and exemptions from regulatory bodies. On behalf of our clients, we also liaise with the relevant Government departments to obtain clearances / documentations / opinions required by international lenders where the state or state agencies provide concessions and assistance to the project companies.