Case Study

Blue Sky was approached to assist with the refinancing of the shareholding of a community trust in a renewable energy project in the Northern Cape. The community trust had approached certain financial institutions to provide the funding required for the refinancing transaction and Blue Sky’s mandate was to anticipate and address the potential funders’ governance and related requirements.

To discharge this mandate, Blue Sky met with the leaders of the community trust and its professional advisers and reviewed the governance structures already in place. Blue Sky reviewed the work which the community trust had already done to identify the most urgent requirements of its community and the types of projects that might be implemented to address these needs. Blue Sky’s team visited the community and the renewable energy project and investigated the potential income stream for the community trust from its shareholding in the project. 

In consultation with the community trust, Blue Sky prepared a base line report, outlining the governance structures in place and identifying the areas which might not meet the expectations of the potential funders. This report was discussed with each of the potential funders to confirm that their concerns had been appropriately identified.

Armed with that confirmation, Blue Sky agreed a list of the issues that needed to be addressed with the community trust and an implementation timetable. The deliverables included the changes required to the trust deed, a report on the nature of the projects that the funding would be used to support, the process to be followed by the community trust in choosing each project, the disclosures and reporting that would accompany each deployment of funds and related matters.

Blue Sky worked closely with the community trust and its professional advisers to address each of the deliverables. This process included visits to successful community upliftment projects undertaken by other community organisations and introductions to organisations capable of designing and implementing the type of projects envisaged by the community trust. On completion of the deliverables and within the agreed timetable, Blue Sky produced a report which was accepted by the funders and will be used in their approval processes.