White & Case Advises on Financing for €1.2 Billion A65 Highway

Paris, January 27, 2007 ... White & Case advised the joint arrangers (Fortis, Helaba, ING, Natixis and Santander) on the financing for the A65 highway between Langon and Pau, signed on January 26, 2007.

On December 19, 2006, the French State concluded a concession with A'Liénor, the agent company for the project formed by Eiffage (65 percent) and Sanef (35 percent), for the financing, conception, construction, operation and maintenance of the highway. The project, with a total cost of €1.2 billion, will be financed 20 percent by funds contributed by Eiffage and Sanef and 80 percent by a bank loan in the form of a miniperm. The loan will be composed of a €925 million term credit and a €45 million VAT credit.

The deal is the latest in a string of road and rail projects White & Case has acted on in recent years. Previous deals the Firm has advised on include: the $3.8 billion Indiana Toll Road project, the largest highway privatisation to date in the US; the €1.1 billion high speed rail link being built between Perpignan in France and Figueras in Spain; the €640 million financing for the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the A1 motorway in Poland; the refinancing of the Chicago Skyway toll road project; and the €750 million project financing of the M5 Phase 2 motorway project in Hungary.

Jacques Bouillon and Paule Biensan, co-heads of White & Case's Energy, Infrastructure and Project Finance practice in Paris, advised on the public law/construction and financing aspects of the A65 transaction. They were assisted by associates François Le Corre, Bénédicte Levier and Marianna Sedefian.

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James Martin
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Karima Ouadia
Media Relations Mgr, Paris, White & Case
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