Commercial close for the Baixo Alentejo Highway Project was conducted on Saturday 31st January 2009, with Portuguese prime-minister Jose Socrates chairing the official ceremony. The financial swaps took place in late February.
The project is the third of seven Portuguese highway concessions launched by the Estradas de Portugal, the agency responsible for Portugal’s highway network, and involves the upgrade and maintenance of approximately 344km of the Baixo Alentejo highway, through a DBFMO contract.
The GR Consortium, comprising Iridium, Desarollo de Concessiones Viarias Uno, Dragados, Edifer, Tecnovia and Condurium, was awarded the concession. A total of seven commercial banks will be providing €190m of senior debt, with the European Investment Bank supplying the remaining €200m.
Operis conducted due diligence on the financial model created in support of the transaction.
