Dentons Jiménez de Aréchaga lines up loan for Uruguay’s Grupo Via Central

Grupo Vía Central, which is building Uruguay’s central railway project, has been assisted by law firm Dentons Jiménez de Aréchaga in Uruguay on the procurement of a mezzanine financing of up to $75 million from the Inter-American Development Bank.

Grupo Via Central is a consortium comprising Spanish infrastructure company Sacyr and Uruguayan counterparts Saceem and Berkes, as well as French constructor NGE.

The loan is to be provided by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and is subordinated to the senior financing, and reduces the sponsors’ equity requirements.

Fernando Jiménez de Aréchaga Jr., a partner at Dentons Jiménez de Aréchaga, which advised the consortium throughout the bidding process, as well as on the financing leg – said the financing is one of the largest and most complex Uruguay has ever seen, and was completed in a limited timeframe.

“This is a landmark transaction in Uruguay,” he added.

Last year Grupo Vía Central obtained the largest project financing ever in Uruguay – for up to $855 million – to fund a public-private partnership (PPP) railway project, known as the Ferrocarril Central, and which will run 273km between Montevideo and Paso de los Toros, the largest infrastructure project in the history of Uruguay, 

The Ferrocarril Central project also includes a dozen secondary tracks for train crossings, a section of track for industrial access and more than 40 railway bridges. In addition, nine passenger trains in each direction will connect Montevideo with the city of 25 de Agosto (Florida) daily, with their corresponding stops.

Dentons Jiménez de Aréchaga’s team also included associates Alfredo Arocena, María José Royira and Gonzalo Rivarola in Montevideo.