Colombia - Bridge loan signed for metro

Concessionaire Metro Line 1, owned by China Harbor Engineering and Xi’an Rail Transportation Group, has closed a Ps678bn (US$171m) bridge loan backing the preliminary phases of the Bogota Metro line 1 public-private partnership project, or Primera Linea del Metro para Bogota (PLMB). Bancolombia and BBVA structured the three-year sustainable loan deal. Costs are expected to be around US$4.5bn. Brigard & Urrutia Abogados, Clifford Chance, and Junhe advised the banks, and Cuatrecasas Goncalves Pereira and Norton Rose Fulbright represented Metro Line 1. The line will run on a viaduct over 24km from Bosa to Calle 72 with 16 stations.