ANI, Colombia’s national infrastructure agency, has awarded the contract to design, build, finance and operate a 176km motorway over 25 years to the consortium SAC 4G consisting of Austrian construction group Strabag (37.5 %), Spain’s Sacyr (37.5 %) and Concay (25 %) of Colombia.
The total investment volume is around €900m ($993m). In a statement Strabag said it will likely contribute equity and junior loans of slightly more than €50m.
The project involves the completion of 75km of new motorway, the modernisation of a 65km section plus the construction of numerous bridges and tunnels–
Strabag said the construction volume amounts to "a middle triple-digit million Euro amount", of which its share comes to 37.5% as well.
The award is the second major road public-private partnership (PPP) in Colombia to be announced this week. Yesterday GCR reported that a consortium led by Ferrovial subsidiary Cintra Infraestructuras, had won a $970m contract to design, build, finance, operate and maintain 152km of the Bucaramanga-Barrancabermeja-Yondó toll road.
The motorway, with the local name Autopista al Mar 1, is situated in the Department of Antioquia in north-western Colombia and will link MedellÃn, the capital of Antioquia, with the cities of San Jerónimo and Santa Fe de Antioquia before continuing to Bolombolo.Â
The project involves the completion of 75km of new motorway, the modernisation of a 65km section plus the construction of numerous bridges and tunnels.
Construction of the motorway is to begin after the financial close, which is expected for the fourth quarter of 2016. Completion is scheduled within five years.Â
In addition to partial revenues in the form of hard toll collections, the consortium will receive annual payments from ANI for its services.
Strabag already operates 37 concession projects (public-private partnerships), mainly in Central and Eastern Europe, but this project marks the market entry into Colombia for Strabag.Â
Infrastructure specialist Sacyr is using this project to expand its presence in the concession field in Latin America, while Bogotá-based construction company Concay is contributing local expertise.
Strabag says the construction of Autopista al Mar 1 will create 4,700 local jobs and reduce the travel time between MedellÃn and Cañasgordas, which is located further in the north-west, from three to nearly two hours.
Photograph: Existing bridge on the Autopista al Mar 1 to be modernised (Source: Strabag SE)
