Lima Line 2 Closes US$ 800m ECA Financing
Astris Finance is pleased to announce that Lima Metro Loan RPI-CAO Purchase LLC successfully closed a USD 800 m Export Credit Agency covered Facility on October 22nd, 2015
Lima Metro Line 2 is one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects ever launched in Latin America under a concession framework. Under the 35-year concession agreement, 35 km of subway lines will be built over 5 years of construction - comprising a total investment of approximatively US$ 6.0bn.
Transaction Highlights:
- The Facilty is covered by an export credit guarantee provided by SACE, the Italian Export Credit Agency. The syndicated loan was provided by Cassa Depositi e Prestiti of Italy for USD 290 m, Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau – Ipex of Germany for USD 150 m, Société Générale of France for USD 150 m, Santander of Spain for USD 150 and Instituto de Credito Oficial of Spain for USD 60 m
- The Facility is the first RPI-CAO financing covered by an Export Credit Agency and is the largest RPI-CAO deal ever financed under a loan format in Peru
- This 20-year ECA covered loan financing is the second building block of a US$ 2.5bn private financing package which also includes a long term facility provided by the InterAmerican Development bank, as well as a revolving construction facility
Astris has been acting as mandated financial advisor to the Consortium since bid stage. For the past 24 months, Astris has worked with the Consortium to develop and implement an optimized financing structure for the Project. The complete financing structure includes a USD 300 m revolving construction facility, a USD 2.5 bn+ term financing package as well as a PEN 100 m VAT facility.
While particularly suited for bond market securitization, the characteristics of the RPI-CAO instrument complicate the structuring of a loan financing. Astris worked together with the Consortium and the Lenders for 18 months to craft an innovative financing structure that enables the Project to take advantage of the characteristics of the RPI-CAO instrument and also benefit from the flexibility and low commitment costs typical of a loan facility.
The Astris Deal Team has been working hand and hand with the Sponsor Group out of our Washington DC, Paris and Mexico City offices, leveraging our unique setup as a global, independent infrastructure finance advisory firm. The L2 financing process illustrates perfectly the three defining principles that guide our work at Astris: our positioning as independent advisor always in search of the best solutions for our clients; the commitment to support our clients from the earliest stages of development and through long financing processes; and our passion for innovation to add value to our clients in their most challenging and ambitious endeavors.