Dom Pedro I Highway

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Rota das Bandeiras, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, was awarded the project to expand, rehabilitate and operate the 296.6 km long toll road in October 2008 and took over the operation of the highway in April 2009, when the 30-year concession contract was signed. By the time the contract was awarded, the roadway connected the cities of Atibaia, Campinas, Jundiai, Paulinia, Itatiba, Jacarei, Igarata, Nazara Paulista, Bom Jesus dos Perdoes, Jarinu, Louveira, Valinhos, Cosmopolis, Artur Nogueira, Engenheiro Coelho, Conchal e Mogi Guacu. The Dom Pedro I Highway project was granted in a competitive bidding process based on the lowest toll rate criteria, but there was only a single offer. The winning bid was 6% below the ceiling set by the state regulatory agency. At the time the concession was awarded, the traffic on the highway was estimated to be around 10 million vehicles annually. The bidding process for the second stage of the Sao Paulo state toll road concession program took place between October 2008 and early 2009 and the five awarded projects comprised the operation of 1715 km of highways in total. Altogether, the concessionaires committed to the duplication of 359 km, 526 km of additional tracks and new shoulders, besides the construction or expansion of access roadways, 317 bridges and viaducts and over 65 new pedestrians crossing bridges. The works were expected to benefit 171 municipalities with a total of 21 million inhabitants. The concessionaires also committed to maintaining 900 km of local toll free roadways. The private sponsor committed to pay US$ 650 million (BRL 1,300 million) to the government for the concession rights (20% of this value was paid when the contract was signed and the rest was agreed to be paid in 18 monthly installments) and was expected to invest US$ 700 million (BRL 1,400 million) during the first six years of the concession period. The total investment commitment during the 30-year contract was estimated at US$ 1,050 million (BRL 2,100 million). In May 2009, Rota das Bandeiras secured a US$ 500 million bridge finance from the banks Banco Santander (Brasil), Banco do Brasil SA, Banco do Nordeste do Brasil, Banco Votorantim SA and HSBC. The toll rates started to be charged in December 2009. In July 2011, the project received an additional loan from the state-owned bank BNDES amounting to US$ 3.4 million (BRL 5.5 million). Source of information: project company and sponsor websites, concession contract, Valor Economico website