San Jose Caldera Highway

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On December 20, 2007, Costa Rica recieved the final approval from the comptroller general for 25 year greenfield BOT contract between the Costa Rican transport ministry (MOPT) and Autopistas del Sol SA to build, own, and operate a 76.8 km highway linking the capital of San Jose with Caldera Port. The highway was designed in three stretches: San José-Ciudad Colón (14.2km), Ciudad Colón-Orotina (38.8km) and Orotina-Caldera (23.8km). It included additional safety measures, such as improved marking and lighting, and improved designs for gutters, drains, pavement, and slopes. In order to accommodate the additional safety measures, 30 months were given for construction instead of the initial 24 months. The San Jose – Caldera Highway was originally awarded to a consortium of Cartellone, Acosol and SNC Lavalin in 2001 and the concession contract was signed in 2003. The consortium of Cartellone, Acosol and SNC Lavalin won the contract through a competitive tender in which eight consortia pre-qualified, but only this consortium submitted technical and final bids. Several others requested a tender delay in order to secure finance but the request was rejected. In 2004, the consortium requested the termination of the concession contract because of delays in obtaining right of way for the highway. In 2005, the national concessions council (CNC) authorized the transfer of the concession contract to Autopistas del Sol SA the contract with the approval of the general comptroller. Autopistas del Sol SA was comprised of: Sacyr Vallehermoso (SyV) [Spain, 35%], Caja Madrid [Spain, 17.5%], Grupo Soares da Costa [Portugal, 17%], Fomento de Construcciones y Contratas S.A. (FCC) [Spain, 17.5%] and M&S DI-MS Desarrollos Internacionales [Costa Rica 13%]. By February 2013, Autopistas del Sol was wholly-owned by Globalvia, a subsidiary of the Spanish group FCC. After the project was awarded to Autopistas del Sol SA, the government added additional safety measures for the project and demanded that the equity of the concessionaires be kept in a special trust. Although the project was signed in 2005, it could not be implemented immediately because it did not have the approval of the general comptroller. Financial closure was reached on December 21, 2007 through a US $247 million syndication that was arranged by the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) and Caja Madrid. The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) gave a guarantee of US $152.96 million that was to cover US $143.96 of Caja Madrid’s debt and US $9.1 million of FCC’s equity against the risks of: transfer restriction, expropriation, war and civil disturbance, and breach of contract for a period of 18 years. Total project cost was estimated at US $330 million. The remainder of the project was to be financed through equity. Construction was scheduled to begin in January 2008 and end in 2010. The highway opened in January 2010.