Additional resident mission resources could aid in due diligence. Whether this dispute and its potential to disrupt the business could have been prevented through a change in due diligence procedures requires consideration, although the causes of the dispute itself are not clear. All existing due diligence requirements appear to have been completed, including checklists, and PSOD used an external consultant and included the resident mission in its due diligence process, even without a formal due diligence requirement to do so. The due diligence appears to have used all reasonable avenues (combined with direct experience observing all parties participate in many months of work and negotiation toward a well-documented transaction) and suggests that there was no more information to be gathered at entry. The dispute occurred years after transaction development was completed and it does not seem possible to have foreseen this situation, indicating the limits of what due diligence can achieve. However, reviewing the project did turn up a potential enhancement that could be added to resident mission resources—without a formal requirement to include resident missions in due diligence, it is difficult for them to dedicate staff to the specific function of due diligence and maintain databases about potential project sponsors that might be able to provide additional knowledge and insight to those making investment decisions. If additional resources are allocated to resident missions specifically dedicated to sponsor due diligence, they could further strengthen the process, with a report of their own complementing the reports from external consultants.
(Cambodia) Power Transmission Lines Co., Ltd., Power Transmission Project