LatinFinance - September/October 2017 - 82

clarity and upside in the deals. The pricing
for both loans started just below 200 basis
points over Libor, with step-ups that raise
the coupon another 100 basis points.
Within eight months, both pipelines
had reached financial close, generating
participation from many of Europe's
biggest banks including Intesa Sanpaolo,
KfW, Natixis, Sabadell and Santander.
International interest from commercial
and development banks alike culminated
in Korea Development Bank (KDB)
joining the Villa de Reyes-AguascalientesGuadalajara loan as a lender and comanager. LF

BEST LOAN
BEST SPONSOR
BEST INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING:
MEXICO

ALTÁN REDES
Many things have changed since Altán
Redes first outlined its bid for the Red
Compartida wireless telecommunications
PPP in Mexico. But the financing plan
remained a constant from the start.
"I recently read a memo from 2016 with
basically the same financial structure and
basically the same numbers," says Eugenio
Galdón, chairman and CEO of Altán.
The sponsor borrowed some $1.6
billion from local development banks and
technology service providers for the Red
Compartida. Mexican development banks
Banobras, Nafin and Bancomext covered
30% of project costs with 13 billion pesos
($733 million) in a 14-year loan, while
China's Huawei and Finland's Nokia
contributed $850 million over 10 years,
enough to account for 37% of the costs.
Altán's shareholders put $750 million on
the line, with the option to chip in another
$15 million if needed.
The ability to mobilize funding from
various sources, together with the size and
structure of the financing package, make
Altán the winner of the awards for Best
Loan and Best Project Sponsor. The Red
Compartida project also wins the award
for Best Infrastructure Financing: Mexico.
"We decided not to negotiate term
sheets with the development banks and
vendors before entering a bid," Galdón
says. "After we won the tender, the
negotiations were rather easy."
Altán presented its bid for Red
Compartida four days before the US
presidential election, when most polls

82 LATINFINANCE.COM - September/October 2017

PROJECT: Red Compartida
SPONSOR: Altán Redes
LOCATION: Mexico
FINANCING TYPE & SIZE: $1.58
billion two-part loan
LENDERS: Banobras, Bancomext,
Huawei, Nafin, Nokia, Santander
LAW FIRMS: Clifford Chance,
Galicia Abogados, González
Calvillo, Hogan Lovells,
Linklaters, White & Case

predicted Donald Trump would lose. After
Trump's victory, the Mexican peso slumped
sharply against the dollar but it later
recovered. Altán has since hedged most of
its dollar exposure and also hedged interest
rates to protect the project from the ups and
downs of the market, Galdón says. "The
exchange rate has not had any significant
impact and it won't have any significant
impact down the road," he says.
Santander provided most of the hedges
for Altán, and other sources indicate that
the Spanish bank is leading a syndication
of the $850 million loan from Huawei and
Nokia. Galdón says he has not heard that
the vendors want to sell their stake in the
near term. "We can imagine that at some
point one or another lender might want to
reduce its exposure," he says, "but nothing
has been discussed."
Altán has no plans to take on additional
debt at this time, Galdón adds.
"With $2.33 billion, we can fully fund
our investment commitments," he says. In
fact, Altán has already built a few hundred
towers as it moves to provide at least 30%
telecom coverage by March 2018. LF

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCING:
CARIBBEAN

AERODOM
When it closed the acquisition of
Aeropuertos Dominicanos Siglo XXI, or
Aerodom, in early 2016, Vinci Airports
started looking at ways to improve the
company's finances.
The acquisition gave Vinci, the airport
operating subsidiary of the French
construction company Vinci, six airport

concessions in the Dominican Republic and
an opportunity to expand the company's
relationship with airlines that serve the US
market.
Vinci initially considered getting a bridge
loan and refinancing it in the local capital
markets in mid-2016. But as interest rates
for cross-border bonds fell, Vinci instead
opted for a combination of bond and bank
financing, says Sylvain Adoue, a structured
finance project manager at Vinci.
"It was important for us to try to have the
best of both worlds," Adoue says.
The company had planned to launch
the transaction at the end of 2016. But
as uncertainty over the US presidential
election set in, markets roiled. "We were
monitoring the markets on a daily basis
waiting for an attractive market window,"
he says.
That window eventually opened in midJanuary, when Aerodom sold a $317 million
6.75% 2029 bond, the lowest yield ever for a
Dominican corporate issuer. JPMorgan and
Scotiabank were the bookrunners on the
bond issue.

CONCESSIONAIRE: Aeropuertos
Dominicanos Siglo XXI (Aerodom)
LOCATION: Dominican Republic
FINANCING TYPE & SIZE: $317
million bond, $216 million loan
BANKS: Banco Popular
Dominicano, Intesa Sanpaolo,
JPMorgan, Scotiabank
LAW FIRMS: Headrick Rizik
Álvarez & Fernández, Orrick,
Herrington & Sutcliffe, Milbank,
Squire Patton Boggs Peña Prieto
Gamundi, Simpson Thacher &
Barlett

Aerodom also landed a $216 million
term loan due in 2024 from local and
international banks, arranged by Banco
Popular Dominicano, Scotiabank and Intesa
Sanpaolo.
The competitive pricing on the bond sale,
along with the refinancing savings, make the
deal the choice for LatinFinance's award for
Best Infrastructure Financing: Caribbean.
Aerodom used part of the proceeds from
the bond sale to buy back $484 million
of its 9.25% 2019 bonds and fund reserve
accounts, helping to remove refinancing
risk, improve the company's debt profile
and cash management. "It represented a
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