Clifford Chance advises on the financing of Barcelona Metro for an amount of 654 million euros

Clifford Chance advised IRIDIUM, DRAGADOS, COMSA and ACSA on the financing of the works for Section II of Line 9 of the Barcelona Metro.

This complex transaction consisted of modifying the concession agreement related to the construction and maintenance of the stations of Section II of Line 9 and the restructuring of the credit facility granted to the concessionaire by a syndicate of banks led by CAIXABANK.

The amount of the facility provided to finalise the project amounts to 654 million euros.

The transaction will allow for the perforation works of the tunnel in Section II of line 9 of the Barcelona Metro to be reactivated, as they had been suspended since September 2011 due to budgetary restrictions which affect the Regional Government of Catalonia (Generalitat de Catalunya). Additionally, the completion of the tunnel works will allow the Barcelona metro network to connect to the Barcelona Airport– El Prat through the stations of Zona Universitària, Collblanc and Torrassa and would mean the commissioning of more than 25 km of metro tracks and 15 stations.

Line 9 of the Barcelona Metro has a length of 45.3 km. It is the longest in Europe and, once completed, it is expected to serve more 130 million users a year.

Jaime Velázquez and Guillermo Guardia, Partner and Senior Lawyer, respectively, of the Corporate Department, participated in this transaction.  Juan José Lavilla and Carme Briera, Partner and Counsel, respectively, of the Administrative Department, were also involved in the transaction with regard to its administrative aspects.