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K&M

was founded to bridge the gap between
engineering technology and project development.

K&M is an internationally recognized finance and engineering advisory firm. Since its creation in 1987, K&M has advised private investors and governments on the development of power, water and telecommunications projects valued at over US$50 billion.

K&M is different from conventional advisory firms. K&M knows how to transform a project idea into an operational asset that has a positive developmental impact. K&M’s experience emerged from its work developing and acquiring power plants, in which K&M successfully invested its own capital. K&M’s advice is based on its exposure to and successful resolution of dilemmas similar to those faced by its clients. K&M understands why and how to design enabling policies and regulations such that these are effective at supporting the public interest, and at mobilizing private capital to develop sustainable infrastructure projects.

K&M has pioneered the use of Independent Power Producers (IPP). K&M advised on the feasibility, engineering, and procurement of the first IPPs in Pakistan, Jordan, Vietnam, Colombia and other countries. K&M established the internationally recognized standards of two project structures: Build-Own-Operate (BOO) and Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) and popularized the use of credit enhancement mechanisms, such as partial risk guarantees, for improving the bankability of IPPs in emerging markets.

K&M is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Dorado Group LLC—a privately held company that specializes in the development, investment and ownership of clean and reliable power generation projects. Dorado Partners LLC offers full development and asset management services, primarily in the energy and infrastructure sectors. The Dorado Group also invests venture capital directly in businesses and projects that need early stage capital and have a business plan management team.

K&M’s work has received praise in the media since our earliest projects. Check out press coverage of our projects HERE

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  • History
  • Team
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Michele

Michael Kappaz

Michael Kappaz founded K&M in 1987 to share his vision for mobilizing private capital to infrastructure projects

From its inception, K&M set a new precedent in infrastructure development by creating new financial architectures, credit enhancing mechanisms and enabling institutional and legal frameworks. K&M quickly established itself as a leader in IPP development for its own account in addition to private companies and governments around the world.

Long before BOOT, BOOM, BOOMT, and other project financing modalities became fashionable, K&M was creating effective approaches to meet the rapidly increasing demand for electric power financing created by the lack of traditional sources of funding from multilateral and bilateral institutions.

Some examples of K&M’s trend-setting projects over its 31 years of existence include:

  • Developing and financing the first non-recourse privately financed project in Latin America
  • Developing and financing the first limited recourse project in South Asia
  • Advising the development of the first IPPs in Colombia, Jordan, Vietnam and Pakistan

K&M has been providing excellent consulting services for decades. Check out legacy additions of K&M’s newsletter HERE

  • Principals
  • Project Managers
  • Associates and Administration

Team

William Kappaz

Chairman

William Kappaz currently serves as the Chairman of K&M Advisors. Mr. Kappaz is also the Chairman and CEO of The Dorado Group—the owner of K&M Advisors. Mr. Kappaz was previously the President and COO of K&M, where he advised on the structuring and development of numerous infrastructure projects around the world including the first ever private power projects in Bangladesh, Colombia, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Senegal, Tunisia, and Vietnam. In addition to his advisory work, Mr. Kappaz has structured, negotiated and invested in numerous power purchase agreements, fuel supply agreements, non-recourse project financed credit facilities, EPC contracts, O&M agreements, and project insurance agreements for more than US$10 billion in projects globally. Mr. Kappaz has developed and published new rules and regulations governing various countries’ energy sectors, unbundled vertically integrated state-owned utilities, and established wholesale electricity markets. His acquisition and financial turnaround of the Termovalle Power Project in Colombia has become a leading example of distressed investing, and its success created the platform for The Dorado Group. He received his B.S. in Finance from the University of Maryland.

Alfonso Guzman

President

Mr. Guzman has over 23 years of experience in power and LNG projects. Mr. Guzman’s power experience includes advising government and private clients on the development of new privately-financed power generation projects, or on concessioning or acquiring existing assets. For private clients—including sponsors, private equity investors and lenders—he has advised on origination, due diligence, and valuation of new or existing power projects. His LNG experience includes advising on the development of LNG to power projects, including identifying and analyzing technical options for importing LNG, evaluating the business case of LNG generated power relative to other fuels, analyzing transaction structures for the development of an LNG to power project, and competitive procurement of LNG supply. Mr. Guzman has worked on a small, medium and large scale LNG to power projects, including projects that use offshore and onshore import terminals, as well as LNG import solutions based on LNG ISO containers. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in civil engineering and a Master’s in business and finance from the London Business School.

Mr. Guzman is reachable at aguzman@km-advisorsllc.com

Juan Jose Daboub

Board Member

Dr. Juan Jose Daboub, PhD, serves as a Director at K&M Advisors and the Vice Chairman at The Dorado Group. Dr. Daboub co-owns businesses in Central America and serves on the Board of Directors of several companies in the USA, Latin America, the United Arab Emirates, and Europe. He is the founding CEO of The Daboub Partnership and the Global Adaptation Institute. As Managing Director of the World Bank, from 2006 to 2010, Dr. Daboub oversaw operations in 110 countries in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America and was responsible for the oversight of the Human and Sustainable Development Networks, the Information Systems Group, the World Bank Institute, the Department of Institutional Integrity and the Arab World Initiative. From 1999 to 2004, Dr. Daboub served concurrently as El Salvador’s Minister of Finance and as Chief of Staff to President Flores. In these high profile dual roles, Dr. Daboub helped to navigate his native country through several regional economic challenges including securing and sustaining El Salvador’s investment grade rating, “dollarizing” the economy, and completing a Free Trade Agreement with the United States. He was President of the Electric Distribution Companies (1994-1996) and of ANTEL (1996-1998), the state-owned telecommunications company of El Salvador, which he re-structured and privatized through a competitive and transparent process that also de-monopolized that strategic sector. Dr. Daboub holds a Bachelors of Science, Masters of Science and a PhD in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University. He is married with four children.

Ralph Fairbanks

Board Member

Mr. Fairbanks has over 24 years of experience providing commercial advisory and project finance services for power projects. He has led procurement and transaction advisory teams for 8 power projects, all of which reached financial close, totaling US$4 billion in new investment. He has also served as a project finance advisor for power projects and pioneered innovative financial arrangements to assist in raising US$2 billion in non-recourse debt and equity. Mr. Fairbanks also has significant experience performing due diligence and supporting project development activities for international power generation projects on behalf of private investors. He is an expert in reviewing commercial contracts and analyzing power markets, including forecasting demand, dispatch, and pricing. For example, Mr. Fairbanks led a multinational team to conduct due diligence for a US$138 million bid for the acquisition of hydropower facilities in Peru totaling 200 MW of capacity, and he has performed detailed hydrology modeling to assess the market for cross-border energy trading between Chile and Peru. In addition to his work on hydropower projects, Mr. Fairbanks played a major role in due diligence power generation transactions in Jamaica, Chile, Honduras, and India. In these projects, Mr. Fairbanks assessed key project agreements (including PPAs), analyzed the local power demand and competing supply options, forecasted PPA tariffs and spot market pricing, estimated future sales and operating costs, and evaluated project risks and risk mitigation options. Mr. Fairbanks holds a B.S. in Business Economics from Brown University.

Leonid Golbin

Managing Director, Technical Services

Mr. Golbin has over 35 years of experience in the power industry in development, engineering, design, and construction of gas, coal, and oil fired power plants, consulting, project management and project development. His work experience includes working on power projects in USA, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Belarus, Togo, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Lebanon, South Africa, Colombia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Indonesia, Vietnam, Georgia, Bulgaria, and many others. Mr. Golbin has advised commercial and multilateral lending institutions on power project development, preparation of requests for proposal and development of private power projects in developing countries. He has participated in preparation of feasibility studies, conducting site selection, size optimization, fuel selection and strategic options for a variety of power projects including leading edge clean coal technologies. He has developed energy efficiency programs, performed due diligence reviews, contract analysis, economic and financial modeling, tariff calculations, power plant environmental impact analysis and mitigation, drafting and negotiating power purchase agreements and fuel supply agreements, development and design of cogeneration systems and conceptual and detailed design of different power plant systems and equipment. Mr. Golbin holds MS Degree from Belarusian Polytech University and is a registered professional engineer in Maryland.

Mr. Golbin is reachable at lgolbin@km-advisorsllc.com

Derek Martin

Managing Director, Transaction Services

Mr. Derek Martin has over 20 years of experience leading the development and financing of international independent power projects and advising clients with advice and execution support for electric sector transactions. He has managed and closed all aspects of IPP development and led negotiations for all major power project contracts under limited and non-recourse finance structures. Mr. Martin has conducted transaction analysis and execution as both a corporate executive and external advisor for international energy companies regarding project developments and acquisitions.

Prior to joining K&M Advisors, Mr. Martin was co-founder and Managing Director of Moray Development and worked as an executive for multinational power companies. Mr. Martin’s experiences there included managing of over $5b in projects at various stages of development, closing of $1.4b in financings, and negotiating more than 1GW of long-term PPAs. Mr. Martin holds a BA in International Relations from Tulane University, an MBA from George Washington University School of Business and Public Management, and a law degree from George Washington University Law School.

Mr. Martin is available at dmartin@km-advisorsllc.com

Nils Janson

Managing Director, Policy and Regulation

Mr. Janson is an economist and financial specialist with more than 25 years of experience advising governments, financial institutions, and private investors on strategies for developing, financing, and regulating infrastructure. He focuses on Latin America and the Caribbean, where he has advised clients in the energy and water sectors in Argentina, The Bahamas, Barbados, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Trinidad and Tobago, and Venezuela. Mr. Janson has been an expert witness on quantum in international arbitrations, a lead author on the Inter-American Development Bank’s “Natural Gas in the Caribbean—Feasibility Studies” (2015) and the World Bank’s “Water Utility Turnaround Framework: A Guide for Improving Performance” (2018), and a frequent speaker at international infrastructure conferences, including at the Caribbean Renewable Energy Forum and Platts’ Caribbean and LNG conferences. Mr. Janson has a graduate degree in International Finance and an undergraduate degree in International Economic Theory and Policy, both from Georgetown University in Washington, DC. Born and raised in Panama, Mr. Janson is a native Spanish and English speaker, and has a working knowledge of Portuguese and French. At K&M Advisors, Mr. Janson is responsible for policy and regulation in the energy sector, as well as for the firm’s work on the water and sanitation sector. He is reachable at njanson@km-advisorsllc.com
Ivan Garcia

Director, Technical Services

Mr. Garcia has over 28 years of experience in the power generation industry. Mr. Garcia began his career working for several utilities and private power plants of various technologies. He progressed from a field operations and maintenance engineer to managerial and supervisory roles in operations, technology/environment, and generation. Prior to joining K&M, Mr. Garcia worked for one of the top OEMs and global suppliers of gas turbines and other power generation equipment, where he managed the implementation, sales, and contract negotiation of multi-million-dollar long term service agreements (LTSA’s). His work experience includes power plant projects development, O&M, due diligence, consulting, and contract negotiations in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, Italy, Mexico, Panama, Puerto Rico, Spain and the USA. He is familiar with various types of power plant contracts (PPA, LTSA, O&M, GSA, EPC), energy market fundamentals, and relevant technical and environmental regulations. In addition to his extensive training in power plant O&M and business management education, Mr. Garcia holds a degree in mechanical engineering and a minor in surface mining projects from Universidad del Norte, a post-graduate production management specialist degree from Universidad ICESI, and a commercial contracts management master’s certificate from Villanova University. He is a native Spanish speaker, fluent in English, and fair in Portuguese. Mr. Garcia is reachable at igarcia@km-advisorsllc.com.
Bradford Dunn

Business Development Manager

Mr. Bradford Dunn is an economist by trade with extensive business development experience throughout East and Southern Africa as well as the Asia-Pacific.

Prior to joining K&M Advisors, Mr. Dunn served as Senior Program Manager for the Economic Governance Inclusive Growth Partnership in Papua New Guinea. This partnership is part of the broader PNG-Australia Governance Partnership funded by the Government of Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT). He worked across the facility to design and implement economic development programs forging business-to-business and business-to-government linkages.

Prior to PNG, Mr. Dunn led components of and/or provided input for all aspects of the capture and proposal phases contributing to $50 million of new business for Abt Associates’ International Economic Growth (IEG) Division. Mr. Dunn led IEG in-country capture work in Ethiopia, Ghana, Indonesia, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. He is intimately familiar with best practices in business development as well as USAID, MCA, and DFAT rules and regulations.

Mr. Dunn has a Master’s in International Affairs, with a focus on International Economics, Business and Trade, from The George Washington University Elliott School of International Affairs. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Wake Forest University.

Mr. Dunn is reachable at bdunn@km-advisorsllc.com

José Kappaz

Resident Manager, Colombia

Mr. Kappaz leads K&M Advisors’ office in Colombia. He is an expert in project management and quality control. Previously, he was responsible for day-to-day management of three major power projects in Colombia developed, constructed, owned and operated by a former K&M affiliated company. Moreover, he managed the Colombia side of activities leading to financial close of those transactions, provided logistical support for construction activities, served as in-country liaison during start up and operation, and provided oversight for the operation and management contracts. In addition, Mr. Kappaz served as legal representative to KMTel, assisting the company to develop a new private digital telecommunications system in Cartagena. Prior to joining K&M, he was a senior corporate executive, private practice attorney, independent businessman and professor. J.D., Law, University of Cartagena.
E. Worth Edwards

P.E.

Mr. Edwards is Senior Project Manager and Manager of Construction with over 30 years of project and construction management experience. Mr. Edwards has implemented over $8 billion of international infrastructure projects in a variety of positions ranging from field engineer and site construction manager to project manager. Earlier in his career, Mr. Edwards served as Construction Manager for the Bechtel Corporation where he was responsible for all of Bechtel Eastern Power’s domestic and international power station engineering and construction management assignments. Mr. Edwards has a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from the University of Oklahoma, an MBA from Golden Gate University and has taken Construction and Project Management courses at Stanford University.

Don Mackay

LNG Commercial Advisor

Mr. Mackay has over 30 years’ experience in the energy industry. He is an LNG commercial expert specializing in the business development of LNG import projects, LNG-to-Power projects and LNG procurement. He provides K&M with consulting and advisory services in LNG business development, specializing in LNG procurement and small-scale LNG and the commercial development of LNG import terminals, FSRUs and LNG-to-power projects. From 2011 to 2016, Mr. Mackay headed up commercial and business development for BW Group’s floating LNG infrastructure business, including FSRUs, FSUs and LNG supply/sourcing. During this time, he managed the bid and led commercial development of BW Group’s 5 year FSRU charter to EGAS in Egypt to successful award in August 2015 and commissioning in October 2015. Mr. Mackay joined BW Group from Gazprom in Singapore where he led their Asia Pacific LNG marketing activities. During this time, he originated, negotiated and closed Gazprom’s first structured mid-term LNG sales deal into India (7 cargoes over 2 years). Prior to Gazprom, Mr. Mackay had a 25-year career with Shell in variety of engineering, commercial and business development roles.
Anneliese Gegenheimer

Senior Analyst

Ms. Anneliese Gegenheimer is a Senior Analyst on the Transaction Services team, where she provides feasibility analysis, due diligence, and financial and economic modeling services for various projects. Prior to K&M Advisors, Ms. Gegenheimer was a Managing Consultant at IBM, where she focused on deployment and go to market strategies for large software implementations and seller enablement for IBM Watson AI products. She received her Master’s degree in Energy, Resources, and the Environment from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration and Chinese from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Ms. Gegenheimer is available at agegenheimer@km-advisorsllc.com.

Lindsay Burkhard

Analyst

As an Analyst in K&M’s Policy and Regulation Practice, Ms. Burkhard specializes in economic, financial, and institutional analysis of water and energy projects. At K&M she has carried out financial and regulatory due diligence of energy projects, benchmarked and assessed governance and performance of water utilities in the Caribbean, and recommended improvements for identifying and financing PPPs in water and sanitation in Latin America and the Caribbean. With a background in municipal affairs in the United States, Ms. Burkhard is familiar with the constraints and challenges of local public management. She has advised elected officials and decision makers on matters regarding stakeholder engagement, land use, urban planning, public safety, franchise agreements, and economic development policy. Ms. Burkhard is available at lburkhard@km-advisorsllc.com.
Kathleen Cohen

Analyst

Ms. Kathleen Cohen is an Analyst in K&M’s Strategic Practice, where she provides economic and financial assessment of energy advisory projects. Prior to K&M Advisors, Ms. Cohen was a consultant to the World Bank where she worked on projects related to electric mobility and environmental and social accountability. She received her master’s degree in International Economics from the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and holds a bachelor’s degree in International Relations from Tufts University. Ms. Cohen is available at kcohen@KM-advisorsllc.com
Christiana Gellert

Analyst

Ms. Christiana Gellert joined K&M Advisors in December 2017. She supports strategic marketing and business development initiatives, and processes accounts payable. She has worked on client deliverables for projects in Aruba, Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, Guyana, Jamaica, Kenya, Peru, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines. Ms. Gellert holds a BSBA in International Economics and Finance from the Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America. Ms. Gellert can be reached at cgellert@km-advisorsllc.com.

 

Laura Bulbena

Analyst

As an Analyst in K&M’s Policy and Regulation Practice, Ms. Bulbena focuses on the economic and financial assessment of energy and water projects in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC). She has recently analyzed PPPs in water and sanitation in LAC through the development of a database of past PPPs and proposed PPPs, prepared reports on the successes and challenges of PPPs in the region’s water and sanitation sector, and recommended alternatives for the emergency rehabilitation of the water and sanitation sector. Prior to K&M, Ms. Bulbena worked as an energy analyst at CAF, a multilateral development bank for Latin America, where she focused on renewable energy projects. Ms. Bulbena has an undergraduate degree in Economics, and a master’s degree from the School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. Ms. Bulbena is available at lbulbena@km-advisorsllc.com.
Sara Jones

Analyst

Ms. Sara Jones is an Analyst in K&M’s Policy and Regulation Practice. Prior to K&M, Ms. Jones interned with the Energy, Climate Change, and Extractives Industries Program at the Inter-American Dialogue. Ms. Jones also worked for Socialab, a small business incubator in Santiago, Chile and served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Misiones, Paraguay. Ms. Jones holds a Master’s degree in Latin American Studies from Georgetown University and a Bachelor’s degree in Politics and International Affairs from Wake Forest University. Ms. Jones is available at sjones@km-advisorsllc.com.
Veronica McCarthy

Business Operations Associate

As Business Operations Associate, Ms. McCarthy supports K&M through firm management, business development and strategic marketing initiatives. Prior to K&M, Ms. McCarthy worked for a senior Member of Parliament in the House of Commons, London, U.K. She was also a Government Relations Intern at In Defense of Christians and a Legislative Intern for a Member of Congress. Ms. McCarthy has a Master of Arts degree in Global Ethics and Human Values from King’s College London and a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Politics from The Catholic University of America. Ms. McCarthy can be reached at vmccarthy@km-advisorsllc.com.
Andrea Murcia

Associate

Mrs. Andrea Murcia specializes in economic, financial and institutional analysis of the water and energy sectors. In Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Panama, and the Caribbean, she has assessed the financial performance and operating efficiency of utilities and developed strategies to improve their performance. Her prior work experience includes the World Bank and the National Planning Department in Colombia.

Mrs. Murcia earned a Master’s degree in International Development Policy from Georgetown University, a Master’s degree in Environmental Economics and Natural Resources, and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics, both from Universidad de los Andes in Colombia.

Awards

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K&M Advisors, LLC

7200 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 750
Bethesda, MD 20814
United States of America

+1-202-861-5632

+1-240-482-1783

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CARTAGENA, COLOMBIA

Cra.3 No.6A-100 Offician 803 Torre Empresarial Proteccion Cartagena, Colombia

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K&M Advisors, LLC

 

7200 Wisconsin Avenue, Suite 750
Bethesda, MD 20814
United States of America
T: +1 (202) 861-5632
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