News
[Transportation]
January 2009 - Contract awarded to Sponsors advised by Astris FinanceA consortium advised by Astris Finance has been awarded a 30-year concession to improve or build a network of toll roads in the Dominican Republic, including main accesses to the country’s capital Santo Domingo and second largest city Santiago, consisting of 285km of connected roads.
The project was awarded following an international bidding contest launched in October 2008 by the Dominican Government and won by Italian Ghella, Argentinean IECSA, Colombian Odinsa and Grodco, and local construction group Remix, advised by Astris Finance on all matters linked to the project financing and formulation of the Sponsors economic offer. Dean Hull, Vice President at Astris Finance says: “we are glad our Clients end up winning the most visible and attractive project in the country after an intense bidding process considering the Project‘s complexity due to its size and length of the construction period. Placing a bid in light of current market conditions is a challenging exercise, considering the lack of visibility on credit markets in the coming months – the situation mandates extreme caution, a very precise market read – as well as creativity, to mitigate the execution and price risks.” Viadom is the largest transportation project to date in the country, and the latest concession awarded following the pathfinder Autopista del Nordeste (AdN) Project that opened to traffic in early 2008 after reaching financial close in 2006. Astris Finance was exclusive Financial Advisor to the AdN’s sponsors group.
