Samalayuca - Sasabe Natural Gas Pipeline Additional Investment

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Samalayuca-Sasabe project envisaged the construction, operation and maintenance of a 650-km natural gas pipeline passing through the states of Chihuahua and Sonora. The pipeline was set to have a capacity of 472 million cubic feet per day. Carso Gasoducto Norte, formed of Carlos Slim subsidiaries Carso Electric and Promotora del Desarrollo de América Latina, won the 25-year transport service agreement (TSA) with Mexico's state power company CFE in September 2015. The group won with an economic proposal of $471.3 million. Besides Grupo Carso, three other bidders took part in the process: Transportadora de Gas Natural del Noroeste (of TransCanada), Gasoducto de Aguaprieta (IEnova), CopavisaPMC and Fisterra Energy México-Operadora Mexicana de Gasoductos. The bidding criteria was the lowest revenues. Grupo Carso presented the winning offer of US$ 471.3 million, 63% below the ceiling. Financial closure occurred on May 10, 2017. The debt financing was provided by a syndicate of lenders and comprises a USD496 million term loan and a USD 38 million letter of credit. The tranches have a tenor of 18 years. The lender group includes SMBC, Mizuho, Caixa, MUFG and BBVA. The credit facility will repay a roughly USD 300 million bridge financing closed with four lenders (BBVA Bancomer , MUFG, CaixaBank and Mizuho Bank) in August 2016. The remaining funds will be used for the further development of the project. https://www.milbank.com/en/news/milbank-advises-lenders-in-535-million-financing-for-mexico.html https://ijglobal.com/data/transaction/37771/samalayuca-sasabe-natural-gas-pipeline-650km-additional-facility The permanent credit facility will repay a roughly $300 million bridge financing closed with four of the lenders in August 2016. The remaining funds will be used for the further development of the project.