Debt Refinancing Advisory: ACEGA Toll Road Refinancing, Spain

Rubicon acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Autopista Central Gallega, C.E.S.A. (“ACEGA”) and Globalvia on the procurement of senior debt from a syndicate of international institutional and bank lenders.

ACEGA is a 56.6km toll road is located in the Northwestern Spanish region of Galicia which generates its revenues through the collection of road user tolls. It forms part of the major link between Madrid and Southern Galicia, facilitating travel to both Santiago de Compostella, the capital of Galicia, and Coruna, the second most populated city in Galicia.

The project was procured in 1999 under a 75-year PPP contract entered into with the Kingdom of Spain. ACEGA is majority owned by Globalvia, one of the world’s leading infrastructure managers.

As with all toll roads in Spain, ACEGA had been impacted by the financial crisis. Rubicon undertook significant due diligence to understand the fundamentals of the road and traffic patterns in order to determine its performance versus peer roads across Spain both during and post the crisis. This due diligence was further supported by analysis around the operational efficiencies of the road, demonstrating to lenders the robust nature of the cashflows and the ability of the project to support the new debt facilities.

Rubicon ran a competitive debt procurement process to refinance the existing mini-perm debt facilities. As part of the assignment, Rubicon analysed multiple structural alternatives before determining the most beneficial structure for the project and the sponsors. The deal ultimately closed through the dual issuance of a privately placed bond and a senior bank debt facility. The facilities attracted orders from European bank and institutional investors and through the competitive process Rubicon was able to successfully secure improved credit terms.