Transbrasiliana Highway

active

In February 2008, BR-Vias signed a 25-year concession contract with the Brazilian ground transportation authority ANTT to build, rehabilitate and maintain 322km of the Transbrasiliana Highway (BR-153) from Minas Gerais to Parana. The Transbrasiliana was the sixth package in a seven-highway package known as the Mercosul corridor, one of the most important projects in the country's economic growth acceleration plan PAC. The Mercosul corridor comprised 2,600km on seven main stretches of existing highway in the south and southeast. The investment in Mercosul was expected to total 20bn reais over 25 years. BR-Vias formed Transbrasiliana Concessionaria de Rodovia SA as the project company of the BR 153 Highway. Grupo BR-Vias was formed in 2006 by Brazilian telecomunications company Splice, the transport company Aurea and construction company WTorre, each with 33.3% shareholding. The highway was awarded to Grupo BR-Vias in October 2007 through an international comptetitive tender in which the lowest toll and ability to meet mandated investment requirements were the bidding criteria. BR-Vias won the bid by proposing a tariff of R$ 2.45 reais at each of the four toll plazas, 40% less than the maximum amount fixed by the government. The number of bidders was not known. The total investment in the project was estimated at BRL 716 million US $391.3 million, with US$ 285.7 million slated for the first five years. BNDES was to finance 70% of the investments with the remainder to be financed through equity.