Sovereign Debt Advisors

Providing tribal governments, enterprises and organizations with fully independent, client-centric debt advisory services as they seek to efficiently raise capital to finance new project developments and refinance existing debt obligations.  

Sovereign Debt Advisors ("SDA") provides a comprehensive suite of debt advisory services to tribal clients seeking to execute a debt offering that not only funds their capital requirements, but more importantly, does so in a manner that ensures that their goals and priorities are held paramount throughout the process.  SDA focuses on creating long-term economic value by assisting clients with executing deliberate, quantitatively grounded debt offerings that appropriately balance risk and are in line with market tolerances.  The suite of services offered by SDA is oriented toward developing and implementing customized debt incurrence and management strategies that are designed to promote and institutionalize responsible borrowing best practices.   

SDA’s priority in advancing a capital strategy on behalf of its clients is to execute the optimal debt structure that meets the particular goals and priorities of a particular client.  SDA leverages sophisticated financial modeling and its posture as a wholly independent financial advisor to ensure that each client is able to consider the full range of financing options that are reasonably available.  Through this analysis, SDA independently evaluates all capitalization options within the context of each client’s long-term needs, expected future financial situation and potential risks to proforma assumptions in order to ensure that the recommended approach and structure is appropriate.  SDA’s debt financing process and analytical techniques have been honed over more than two decades financing projects within Indian Country through all manner of debt structures.  SDA couples this strong foundation with the significant debt execution experience of its professionals to deliver a customized capital solution that is specifically tailored to help each client achieve their particular financial goals.

The Professionals of SDA have structured and placed approximately $25 billion of debt for Native American clients through all forms of debt structures, including but not limited to:

• Taxable and Tax-exempt Credit Facilities;
• Taxable and Tax-exempt Bonds;
• High Yield Bonds
• Institutional Loans
• Tribal Economic Development Bonds;
• Letter of Credit Back Bonds;
• USDA and BIA Loans and Guarantees;
• Tribe to Tribe Loans and Guarantees;

SDA’s services include all components of advancing a debt transaction from initial analysis of all debt structuring options available to tribal borrowers to successfully closing and funding the transaction.  More specifically, SDA assists tribal clients with:

Preparing to Advance Debt Offering

• Preparing to execute both new money and refinancing debt offerings;
• Analyzing all available debt structures and the resulting financial impact of each on each client through sophisticated modeling;
• Evaluating opportunities to maximize preference opportunities (Tax-exempt, TED Bonds, BIA, USDA, etc.)
• Management existing debt requirements;
• Developing and Implementing debt and interest rate management policies;
• Managing counterparty relations;
• Covenant compliance strategies;
• Providing independent evaluation of derivative instruments;
• Performing transaction due diligence;
• Coordinating development team to facilitate smooth execution process;
• Ensuring contracts with project component entities (contractors, subs, vendors, etc) are structured in a way that supports the debt transaction;
• Providing sophisticated financial modeling tools to ensure fully-informed decision making.

Executing the Transaction

• Assisting with identification of optimal financing strategy;
• Preparing primary disclosure documents (i.e. Offering Memorandum, Informational Memorandum, etc.);
• Organizing and undertaking a comprehensive RFP process for financial partners;
• Assisting with identifying optimal financial partner for achieving each client’s particular goals and priorities;
• Negotiating transaction terms and conditions;
• Finalizing and distributing complete due diligence packages;
• Developing and executing rating agency strategies;
• Facilitating debt marketing efforts;
• Coordinating final terms and the closing logistics;
• Evaluating relevant swap or other derivative options;
• Coordinating all necessary approvals (including NIGC Declination process if applicable)
• Closing and Funding transaction.