BRAZIL: São Paulo metro Line 6 PPP consortium Concessionária Linha Universidade has closed a R$6·9bn financing deal with development bank BNDES.
The consortium of Acciona (47%), Societe Generale (39·7%), Stoa (12·3%) and Transdev (1%) said the R$18bn public-private infrastructure project to build the 15·3 km line with 15 stations is the largest PPP scheme in Latin America.
A second tranche of financing worth R$500m is to be finalised at a later date, and the state of São Paulo will contribute R$7·85bn during the construction period.
The loan announced on August 4 includes non-recourse bank guarantees that partially cover the exposure BNDES faces during construction, in an innovative financing model for the bank which traditionally does not assume this kind of risk.
The funding has a 20-year term and 10 banks are providing guarantees totalling more than R$3·31bn: BNP Paribas (exclusive financial adviser), Banco Santander, JP Morgan, ICO, CAF, SMBC, Intesa, CACIB, Bradesco and ABC. These guarantees provide a funding structure completely in local currency.
The consortium said the loan is an example of sustainable financing endorsed by Vigeo Eiris’s independent assessment, based on criteria regarding taxonomy, female and local employment, electric transport and entrepreneurship. It is also endorsed by JPMorgan’s Development Impact Assessment. BNP Paribas and Banco Santander are the funding co-agents for sustainability.
