More details on A9 Badhoevedorp-Holendrecht financing
The Veenix consortium has reached financial close on its €850 million financing for the A9 Badhoevedorp-Holendrecht motorway expansion in the Netherlands. Veenix comprises Macquarie Capital, Siemens and Count & Cooper, with FCC serving as contractor. Macquarie leads Veenix and is sole financial adviser and debt arranger for the consortium.
Veenix was awarded the DBFM contract by Rijkswaterstraat as a 20-year PPP concession (a 14-year operational period and a construction time of around six years). The expansion involves increasing the number of lanes on the 11km section of the A9 near Amstelveen from three lanes to four. The Schiphol bridge is due to be upgraded, 14km of the road will have sound barriers erected, and 1.3km will be a ‘sunken highway’ with three roof structures, further reducing noise pollution.
The larger road is expected to improve traffic flow between Schiphol Airport and the cities of Amsterdam and Almere. A source at the EIB says that although the EIB now views itself as “Europe’s climate bank”, the EIB’s involvement in a car-related project is justified. By “improving the flow of traffic and ensuring that there is less congestion and, obviously, a lessened impact on climate because cars are not left standing in a big line, uselessly burning fuel”.
The project constitutes the final part of the Schiphol-Amsterdam-Almere corridor and will expand access to the greater Amsterdam area.
The financing for the scheme comprises around €9 million of equity and multiple debt tranches: a €98 million 7.5-year bridge facility; three 21-year revolving credits totalling €21.6 million; a €91.58 million 8.5-year bridging loan; a €170 million 21-year term loan; a €68.297 million 21-year term loan; a €7 million 7.5-year credit facility; and a €98 million 21-year credit and a €295.367 million 21-year credit.
The lenders are EIB, KfW IPEX-Bank, DZ Bank, Credit Agricole, MEAG Munich Ergo, Nederlandse Waterschapsbank, SMBC, La Banque Postale, DKV Deutsche Krankenversicherung. KfW IPEX has confirmed that it will be contributing €120 million, while the EIB is providing up to a maximum of €350 million. Stibbe provided borrower counsel, with Nauta Dutilh acting for the lenders and Allen & Overy for the EIB.
