Most experts believe that the target capital structure of the company has changed over time. The debt capital is more attractive than equity because of its cheaper cost. However, getting the debt capital at the design stage is problematic due to the insecurity of the loan. The contribution of sponsors and direct and indirect government supports allow the project company to attract a significant amount of borrowed capital required at the implementation stage of the project. Under the conditions of instability of the income, the situation can be improved through short-term borrowings that have a lower cost than a long-term loan. This will allow the company to stay afloat. In case of the successful implementation of the project, the project company receives a steady income and, for the expansion of the business, it can raise the capital by reissue of shares. Thus, the target capital structure of the project company will change over time.
The purpose of the financial strategy is to raise the necessary funds for the project by minimizing the costs of capital. The financial strategy is developed according to the following principles:
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diversification of financial sources and instruments in order to choose the most effective ones for each purpose/objective of the life-cycle stage;
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each phase of financial strategy accumulates the positive credit history and attracts the required financial resources from the available sources;
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the higher the development level of the project company is, the more opportunities it has for attraction of funds for the project;
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the balance between the benefits and costs associated with debt financing.
The following section detects a mechanism for raising funds, which is based on life cycle of the project and on the abovementioned principles, and proposes a financial strategy for raising capital, which may be typical for highway infrastructure PPP projects.