Operis acted as the financial adviser to the Skanska consortium
£460m (NOK 5.1bn) – Project capital value
Senior debt – secured by Operis on behalf of the client
2020 – The road is scheduled to open to traffic and the project will then enter a 20-year operational phase
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Norwegian PPP
The project consists of a 26-kilometre long greenfield upgrade to the existing Rv3 and Rv25 roads, as well as the diversion of local roads and tracks along with a new vehicle checkpoint and control station at Ånestad in Løten. The scheme built on contracts that had previously been utilised in Norway and included elements of international best practice from model contracts in other countries alongside other drafting and requirements specific to the project.
The project had a capital value of NOK 5.1bn (£460m) including VAT.
Operis Role
Operis acted as the financial adviser to the Skanska consortium. The consortium submitted its final bid in February 2018 and was appointed as preferred bidder a month later, quickly proceeding to financial close in May 2018. An independent Operis team also acted as model auditor.
“The Operis team supported Skanska throughout the procurement process and helped us to develop a robust and low cost financing solution to underpin our successful bid. They also contributed to a smooth financial closing process that allowed the Skanska team and Statens vegvesen to close the deal in line with our timetable.”
Eivind Dueland, project director at Skanska
Senior Debt Funding
Operis ran an exhaustive funding competition on behalf of the consortium to appoint a banking club to underwrite 100% of the senior debt requirement. Due to the structure of the deal, this was split between long and short term facilities. Operis worked with the selected lenders to achieve credit approval ahead of the final bid and delivered the financing to a tight timetable.
Equity Funding
100% of the equity funding was provided by companies within the Skanska group.
Progress
The speed and efficiency of financial close (May 2018) was achieved without sacrificing design quality or innovation, all of which can be seen in abundance in the project. The road is scheduled to open to traffic late in 2020 and the project will then enter a 20 year operational phase.
Image credit: Skanska
Accolades
At the recent 2019 Partnership Awards, Skanska received the Gold Award for Best Transport Project for the Rv3/Rv25 Ommangsvollen project.
The judges praised the structuring of project documentation and risk allocation including a mechanism to adjust a part of the annual fee dependent on the accident rate on the road. They were also pleased that significant emphasis was placed on the sustainability and environmental impact of this scheme.
Operis was very proud to be the financial advisor for this project.
