Based on my current interpretation, the carried interest has a value for little players (juniors, possibly royalty companies).  It avoids the need to secure funds, dilution and/or ownership decrease. 

However, this does not bring a lot to the table for any major that already has a good credit line.

Without the carried-interest, anyone paying for our 25% would also need to pay for 25% of the capex cost.  Therefore, based on historical transactions, it would be hard to sell SC for more than 50% - 65% of the NPV, as the buyer would also need to pay for capex, or at least the interest from a loan.  In total (buyout + interest), I'm thinking that they would not want to pay more than 25% of capex to achieve that 15% after-tax IRR.

With the carried-interest, anyone buying our 25% would only pay once.  That greatly reduces the risk which has a certain value.  However, I think that most of the value comes from the fact that with a carried-interest, there's a better chance we might sell our 25% interest for 75% to 100% of the NPV instead of 50% - 65%.

IMO.

MoneyK