BR-393 Rio de Janeiro Highway

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On March 26, 2008 the Brazilian ground transportation authority ANTT signed a 25-year concession contract with Spanish company Acciona to build, rehabilitate and operate 200.4 km of the BR-393 highway between Minas Gerais and Rio de Janeiro states, ending at Via Dutra. The contract works included: construction of three toll collection areas, construction of buildings required for the services and management of any incidences and for users, installation of traffic control systems along the road, truck weigh-in stations, remodeling of connections and construction of extra lanes. The contract was the last to be signed in the seven-highway package known as the Mercosul corridor, one of the most important projects in the country's economic growth acceleration plan PAC. The Mercosul corridor comprised 2,600km on seven main stretches of existing highway in the south and southeast. The investment in Mercosul was expected to total 20bn reais over 25 years. Two subsidiaries of Acciona, Acciona Infraestructuras SA (76%) and Acciona do Brasil SA (24%), formed Rodovia do Aco SA as the project company for the BR-393 Rio de Janeiro Highway. The project was awarded to Acciona in October 2007 by the national road authority ANTT in an internationally competitive tender in which the lowest toll and ability to meet mandated investment requirements were the bidding criteria. Acciona won the bid by proposing three toll points charging 2.94 reais each, 27% less than the maximum amount fixed by the government. The number of bidders was not known. Initially, Acciona was disqualified from competing in the auction, but later presented a court injunction questioning its disqualification. A Brazilian supreme court injunction also delayed Acciona’s contract signing, which took place 45 days later than the six other road concessions tendered at the October 2007 auction. The total project cost was estimated at US$409.3 million (BRL 749 million). Financing was to be under a 60:40 debt-to-equity ratio. On 2 Sep 2008, the sponsors signed a R$51m bridge facility to initiate operation. BES was slated to be the mandated lead arranger. Acciona expected to sign long term financing and reach financial close in the fourth quarter of 2008. The project became operational after contract signing in March 2008, with repair works scheduled until 2012. In July 2011, the state-owned bank BNDES granted a US$ 216 million (BRL 352.5 million) loan to the company to finance the infrastructure works.