The Travant Consortium submitted its initial bid for the Brabo tram project in Antwerp, on 8 February 2008.
The consortium consists of Compagnie d’Entreprises CFE, Fabricom GTI and their associates MBG, Van Wellen and Engema. The procuring authorities are Lijn, the government transport agency covering the Flemish region of Belgium, and BAM, a development agency with responsibilities in the Antwerp region.
The Brabo project involves the extension of the city’s existing tram network, the provision of new depot facilities and subsequent provision of maintenance and asset renewals over concession periods of up to 35 years. The project is part of the wider €3.3 billion Antwerp master plan, which aims to redevelop transport links in and around the city which also includes the Oosterweel toll road project.
Operis provided financial and structuring advice to the consortium. This included addressing the complexities introduced by the lease tenure for part of the project assets and the challenges of designing robust indexation methods to meet the requirements of the procurement.
Operis delivered full financial modelling of the transaction bilingually in English and Flemish to a very tight timetable.
