July 2024 - Astris congratulates its client Metro de Lima Línea 2 for the successful refinancing of the US$ 256m ECA-covered financing tranche.

Bogotá, August 2024 - Astris Finance is pleased to announce the closing of the refinancing of a US$ 256m ECA-covered financing (the “Guaranteed Loan Facility” or “GLF”) via an amendment and restatement of the existing facility for its client Metro de Lima Línea 2 (“MLL2”) and its shareholders (Iridium, FCC, Hitachi, WeBuild, and COSAPI). The GLF, a critical component of the financing package for the construction of Line 2 of the Lima’s metro system (the “Project”), is part of a c. US$ 2.5bn debt package we raised back in 2015 as advisors to the Consortium. MLL2 continues to be one of the largest and most ambitious infrastructure projects ever awarded as a P3 in Peru, and in Latin America.

The Project consists of 35 kilometers of tunnels for metro transportation between Ate and Callao; it is projected to serve 1.2m users per day and will be fully completed in 2028. According to the former Minister of Transport and Communications, José Gallardo Ku, the quality of life of Peruvian residents will be very positively impacted by the construction of the Project as it is slated to generate benefits to the country of more than US$ 20bn in time savings for users. In line with the size of the Project, its construction is a cornerstone for the development of the country and stands as the most important and highest priority infrastructure project for the Peruvian government.   

Astris has had an extensive history with the MLL2 project: we  successfully advised MLL2 in 2014 as bid stage advisor; once the project was awarded, we raised a comprehensive financing package, closed in 2015, which includes: a) 144A Bond (US$ 1,155m); b) ECA-covered tranche (US$ 800m); c) Revolving Credit Facility (US$ 105m); d) VAT Financing (US$ 30m); and e) IDB Facility (US$ 450m). The long-term financing of the project was structured as a securitization of RPI-CAOs which represent unconditional, irrevocable obligations of the Government of Peru (“GoP”), that are delivered by the GoP to MLL2 in lieu of payment.

Astris was mandated to refinance the GLF before the expiration of its availability period (July 31, 2024), with the timely extension of this RPI-CAO backed tranche being of paramount importance for the completion of the works.  The refinancing creates significant value for MLL2 by (i) preserving very attractive pricing conditions and (ii) adding flexibility to the structure that may be used to raise additional funding in the future.

This transaction is a good example of how Astris works with its sponsor clients throughout the life cycle of their projects, leaving no stone unturned to find creative solutions to optimize value at each stage.