The Diplomat
Acciona and its partners in the Concessionária Linha Universidade (CLU) consortium have closed a 6.9 billion reais (1.285 billion euros) financing deal with the Banco Nacional de Desenvolvimento Econômico e Social (BNDES) to develop the largest public-private partnership infrastructure project under construction in Latin America, line 6 of the Sao Paulo metro (Brazil), reports Europa Press.
In addition, a second tranche of financing, amounting to 500 million reais (93 million euros), will be executed later, and the State of Sao Paulo will contribute a further 7.85 billion reais (1.46 billion euros) during the construction period, the company announced.
The loan now signed includes the granting of non-recourse bank guarantees that partially cover BNDES’ risk during construction, which is an innovative financing model for BNDES, which traditionally has not assumed this type of risk.
The term of this financing is 20 years and 10 banks are providing bank guarantees for an amount of 3.312 billion reais (617 million euros), which allows a 100% local currency funding structure for the project. These banks are BNP Paribas, which acted as exclusive financial advisor to the operation, Banco Santander, JP Morgan, ICO, CAF, SMBC, Intesa, Cacib, Bradesco and ABC.
The loan is an example of sustainable financing backed by an independent assessment provided by Vigeo Eiris, based on criteria relating to taxonomy, female and local employment; electric mobility and local entrepreneurship; as well as the Development Impact Assessment conducted by JPMorgan. BNP Paribas and Banco Santander are the sustainability co-agents.
Line 6 of the Sao Paulo metro is a concession from the State of Sao Paulo that involves the construction and operation of a metro line connecting the districts of Brasilandia and Freguesia de Ó to the city centre.
The project will be 15.3 kilometres long and will have 15 underground stations, including three major interchanges. It is expected to carry 630,000 passengers daily.
The concession holder, Concessionária Linha Universidade, is owned by Acciona (47%), Société Générale (39.7%), Stoa (12.3%) and Transdev (1%). The civil works are being carried out 100% by Acciona and the rolling stock is being supplied by Alstom.
The total cost of the project is approximately 18 billion reais (3.354 billion euros), making it the largest infrastructure project underway in Latin America.
