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The Constellation Development Facility.

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AboutDeal Pathway

Deal pathway

Five stages from enabling environment through to financial close, each resolving key uncertainties to mobilise private capital.

Stage 1: Mandate Fit and Project Definition

Stage Purpose

Establish whether the opportunity warrants deployment of development capital by confirming that a clearly defined project can plausibly align with the fund’s mandate, operate within a viable regulatory setting, and progress toward private investment. This stage filters out ideas that cannot credibly be developed into investable opportunities.

Key Activities

Project definition and option screening

  • Define the core project proposition, including the underlying asset, service, or revenue generating activity
  • Identify and screen alternative configurations to determine which options could plausibly support private capital participation
  • Exclude configurations that rely on unrealistic assumptions about pricing, demand, or public support

Mandate alignment assessment

  • Test the project against fund mandate, sector focus, geography, ticket size, return expectations, and impact constraints
  • Clarify whether the project could ultimately support equity, debt, or blended capital
  • Identify any mandate misalignment that would prevent future investment, regardless of project quality

Public sector and regulatory viability review

  • Assess whether the legal, regulatory, and institutional environment can support private participation and contract enforceability
  • Identify any critical policy or regulatory dependencies that must be resolved before progressing
  • Distinguish between manageable conditions precedent and fundamental structural barriers

Sponsor and counterparty credibility screen

  • Identify the likely project sponsor, public counterparty, or offtaker
  • Conduct an early credibility and authority screen, including mandate, incentives, decision rights, and delivery track record
  • Test whether counterparties are likely to behave consistently with long term project bankability

Stage Gate Checklist

  • Project clarity: Is there a clearly defined project with a plausible investable form?
  • Mandate fit: Does the project sit within the fund’s investment mandate and risk appetite?
  • Regulatory viability: Is there a credible legal and regulatory pathway to enforceable contracts and financial close?
  • Counterparty credibility: Is there evidence of sponsor and counterparty authority, commitment, and delivery capacity?
  • Capital pathway: Is there a plausible route to third party investment without reliance on speculative policy reform?

Projects that fail any of these criteria do not proceed to pre-feasibility.

Primary Risks Addressed

  • Concept risk: Avoiding development spend on poorly defined or incoherent project propositions
  • Mandate drift risk: Preventing investment in projects that institutional capital cannot ultimately support
  • Policy and counterparty risk: Early identification of public sector behaviours that undermine bankability
  • Structural infeasibility risk: Screening out concepts that cannot be shaped into an investable form

Typical Artefacts

  • Project Concept Note
  • Option screening summary
  • Regulatory and enabling environment viability memo
  • Sponsor and counterparty credibility summary
  • Preliminary investment rationale note