The following facility financing alternatives are available to most mid and high-credit grade corporate clients. All of the listed lease alternatives require no investment of corporate capital into real estate. All of the operating lease alternatives provide off-balance sheet lease treatment to the lessee/tenant.

Because government agencies, educational institutions, and pharmaceutical companies are becoming increasingly aware of the benefits that attracting biomedical companies to their area represents, a geographic shift is occurring that could alter the landscape when it comes to biomedical “clustering.”

The Biomedical sector is trying hard to become a favorite on Wall Street, but it’s been a tough road. That’s surprising since biomedical discoveries and inventions are helping to fuel economic growth and they are credited with solving many of society’s biggest challenges. Perhaps the reason for the struggle is that these advances come attached to enormous costs including R&D and staff salaries. For many biomedical companies that are either just entering the start-up phase, or are at their mid-stage of growth, another crippling cost that impedes profitability are the costs related to buying and building their real estate facilities.

By now most of us have heard and read numerous articles about synthetic leases. We also know synthetic lease transactions are relatively commonplace for financing corporate build-to-suits and acquisitions, and that they are widely accepted by corporate real estate executives, financial institutions, and accounting firms. But is the synthetic lease a panacea for the corporate executive faced with a leasing decision? Are they the perfect solution for keeping real estate assets oil the company balance sheet? Are there any drawbacks to a synthetic lease? Before entering into a synthetic lease, the corporate tenant should know the potential shortcomings of a synthetic lease as well as when and when not to use one.

A key part of any ethanol project is the agreement that governs the purchase of the ethanol that is produced. These agreements commonly referred to as “offtakes”, “offtake agreements”, or “marketing agreements” can significantly influence a plant’s profitability. Typically, these agreements are of a “take or pay” nature requiring the offtaker to purchase all of the ethanol that is produced, and from a pricing perspective, these agreements have historically been based upon the spot market for ethanol at the time of production. While these arrangements do provide a producer comfort that his ethanol output will be sold, producers still face significant price risk.

Fuel is known as a substance used for generating energy. Biofuels are types of fuels created from biomass. Biomass is essentially stored solar energy. Compared to most other fuels, the main feature of biofuels is that energy produced through these sources can be recycled time and again – i.e. renewable. This characteristic of biofuels makes them different from other energy sources commonly used today such as nuclear fuels, coal, and petroleum. Another advantage favoring biofuels is that they are biodegradable and thus do not cause harm to the environment. Given these characteristics, and the oil price increases of the recent past, it’s no wonder why there is so much talk today about biofuels.