Rio de Janeiro Light Rail System

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In April 2013, Consorcio VLT Carioca, a partnership of the Brazilian companies Odebrecht TransPort, Invepar, CCR and Fetranspor (each with 24,5% of the shares), the French company RATP (0,25%) and the Argentine company Benito Roggio Transporte (2%), won in a competitive bidding the right to build and operate the 30-km light rail system located at the municipality of Rio de Janeiro (state of Rio de Janeiro). The light rail system was set to link the city's airport with the central metro station. The bidding criteria was the lowest subsidy to be received monthly from the municipality government to undertake the project. The winning bid was US$ 2.5 million (BRL 6 million), 1.35% below the ceiling set by the government. No other company took part in the bidding process. The sponsors created the company Concessionária VLT Carioca S.A. to lead the project. The 25-year PPP contract was signed in June 2013. The investment was estimated at US$ 509.8 million (BRL 1.2 billion) over the life of the project, of which US$ 226 million (BRL 532 million) was set to be granted by the federal government. The private sponsors funded the project by issuing bonds amounting to US$ 127.4 million (BRL 300 million) in November 2013. In March 2015, the state-owned bank BNDES approved a US$ 58.4 million (BRL 194.8 million) loan to VLT Carioca. Finally, in November 2015, BNDES approved an additional funding of US$ 223.8 million (BRL746.6 million).