At least in terms of financing, this transaction is unusual due to the level of guarantees that were granted by Eiffage during the construction period and then by the CHSF thereafter.
Eiffage granted the lenders and swap providers a guarantee that covered the construction risk involved in the project, since the private sector could bear the burden of the risk most effectively. This corporate guarantee isolates lenders from the construction risk, thus allowing the two long-term facilities to benefit from better pricing during the construction phase of the project. This worked well for the public sector since the French government aimed to transfer as many risks as possible to the private sector during this phase of the deal. As stipulated in the aforementioned Daily PPP Ordinance, the PPP grantors could now undertake to make specific payments to the project company in the PPP agreement itself. This revised French PPP structuring policy, coupled with the risk-oriented approach taken by Eiffage, allowed for some of the lowest financing conditions offered for this type of deal to date.