Iracema Transmissora de Energia

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In November 2007, Cymi Holding, a subsidiary of the Spanish Group ACS (which, in turn, belongs to Dragados group), was awarded in a competitive bidding process the 30-year contract to build and operate a 400-km transmission line located in the states of Piaui, Pernambuco and Ceara. Besides Cymi, nine other companies/consortiums took part in the contest: Isolux; Cobra Instalaciones y Servicios; Abengoa Construcao Brasil; Schahin Engenharia; Cia Técnica de Engenharia Eletrica; CTEEP; Empresa Amazonense de Transmissao de Energia; Elecnor; Consorcio São Joao do Piaui – Milagres (CHESF, ELETRONORTE, Brasil Energia and Terna). The bidding criteria set by the federal regulatory agency ANEEL was the lowest required annual revenue. Cymi presented the lowest offer, a total value of US$ 7.5 million (BRL 13.8 million), 56.86% the ceiling set by the regulatory agency. The contract was signed in March 2008, and Cymi created the company Iracema Transmissora de Energia to lead the project during the 30-year contract period. The sponsor committed to invest US$ 131 million (BRL 261.9 million) in the transmission line. Financial closure was achieved in April 2009, when the sponsor was granted a US$ 52.4 million (BRL 206 million) loan from Santander Bank. The remaining cost was set to be financed with the sponsors’ internal resources. Environmental clearance was granted in July 2009, but, as of June 2010, the construction works had not yet commenced. The works on the transmission lines were expected to be completed in 11 months. In 2011, the project company ownership was sold to the companies Barra do Peixe Montagens e Servicos (0.01%) e a Lintran do Brasil Participacoes (99.99%), a subsidiary of the spanish group Cobra. In October 2012, the Chinese company State Grid acquired seven transmission line projects that belonged to group Cobra for US$ 537.9 million (BRL 1.05 billion), besides taking the responsibility of US$ 417 million (BRL 814 million) in debt. Still couldn´t confirm financial closure, though it was stated at the impact of the crisis database as such.