On October 17, 2018, the €1 billion Blankenburg Tunnel PPP project reached financial close. The DBFM project comprises a three-lane highway between two existing highways, a c.500m land tunnel, a c.900m immersed tunnel under the Nieuwe Maas River and two major flyovers, linking the A15 and A20 roads in Rotterdam. It is the largest PPP project awarded in the Netherlands to date.
The senior funding was secured from commercial floating rate lenders Belfius, BNG, KBC, Korea Development Bank, KfW and SMBC, and fixed rate institutional lenders MEAG, Natixis and Samsung Life Insurance. The funding for this project includes a loan from the European Investment Bank, as part of the European Fund for Strategic Investments.
Operis were pleased to again work with the BAAK consortium – comprising Macquarie Capital, Ballast Nedam and DEME – in undertaking the formal audit of the financial model, having worked previously on the project at bid stage.
