Tel Aviv light rail consortium Metro Transportation Solutions (MTS) has secured funding from a foreign bank syndicate. MTS CEO Yohanan Mor notified Accountant General Shuki Oren on Thursday night that the consortium had obtained letters of intent from the syndicate for a total of €930 million.
Germany's KfW Bank Group and Bayern LB are leading a nine-bank syndicate. Espirito Santo SA (Euronext: BES) of Portugal recently joined the syndicate. MTS also notified the Ministry of Finance that the Royal Bank of Scotland plc (LSE; NYSE: RBS) and a Chinese bank are also due to approve their participation in the syndicate next week.
The syndicate is expected to provide €1.4 billion (NIS 7-8 billion) altogether for the project. The consortium's success in securing foreign financing follows its securing of a NIS 2.5 billion loan from Bank Leumi (TASE: LUMI).
MTS is a consortium comprising Africa-Israel Investments Ltd. (TASE:AFIL; Pink Sheets:AFIVY), Egged Israel Transport Cooperative Society Ltd., and Siemens AG (NYSE: SI; XETRA: SIE), China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), and Sociedade de Construcoes Soares da Costa SA of Portugal. Dutch tram and bus operator HTM is a partner, but with no equity stake, in the consortium.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on February 1, 2009
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