ICBC contributes to USD 252.5 million syndicated loan for Phase 2 of the Second Road Safety and Urban Mobility Program in Buenos Aires

On or about April 5, 2017, the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) and the Inter-American Investment Corporation (IIC, now IDB Invest) signed a USD 252.5 million syndicated loan package with Autopistas Urbanas, S.A. (AUSA)-- a state-owned enterprise-- for Phase 2 of the Second Road Safety and Urban Mobility Program to improve road safety and connectivity in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The loan contract includes the remaining amount of a 2014 loan from the IDB for Phase 1 of the project (USD 128.1 million, loan number 3183/OC-AR, project AR-L1166), USD 24.4 million from the IIC, and USD 100 million from Federated Investors (a US-based investment manager) and the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The Government of the City of Buenos Aires provided a guarantee. ICBC's individual contribution to this syndicated loan is unknown. The borrowing terms are also unclear. As of September 30, 2019, the loan balance was USD 200.38 million and as of September 30, 2020 it was 185.39 million USD. The purpose of the Second Road Safety and Urban Mobility Program to improve road safety and connectivity in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The purpose of Phase 2 is to relocate a segment of the Illia Highway and to construct a bridge connecting Lanus and Buenos Aires. While the "New Au. Illia Master Plan" is listed as a completed project on AUSA's website, it is unclear if the specific section to be relocated with these funds has been completed.

Additional details

Note that the IDB Invest website explicitly says a contract was signed, indicating a commitment, but the Government of Buenos Aires financial statements do not mention debt held by ICBC. While this alone would be insufficient to call into question the project status, given it is likely IDB Invest was the lead of the loan syndicate, the law firm that seems to have worked on the deal only includes IDB and IDB Invest as well, while listing out loan syndicate members for other financing deals (see "Syndicated Loans & Other Bank Financings" from Brucho). The implementation status of this road project is unclear since the project page for the Second Road Safety and Urban Mobility Program (number 11226-04) is no longer on the IDB Invest website.

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