Astaldi communicated the signing of a loan agreement worth 5 billion dollars for the project in Türkiye ofGebze-Orhangazi-Izmir highway. The group announces that the investment will be equal to 6,4 billion dollars and will contribute to the construction of one of the most important infrastructural works in the world. The project also includes the construction of a suspension bridge which when finished will be the fourth longest in the world.
The new funding will be used for the completion of the last part of the 301-kilometre long route connecting Bursa to Izmir (Izmir) and the refinancing of the sections already under construction for the Gebze-Orhangazi-Bursa connection. Therefore, the financing process for the entire project is completed, with the rebalancing of the debt/equity ratio of the initiative to 78/22 from the initial 50/50 and with no further equity contribution for Astaldi.
The concession project envisages the construction of over 400 kilometers of motorway and subsequent management by Astaldi, in a joint venture with Turkish companies. The work is under construction in separate functional lots: the first phase, 53 kilometers long, concerns the Gebze-Orhangazi section, including the bridge over the Izmit Bay, the second phase is divided into a section, 25 kilometers long, for the Orhangazi-Bursa line and another section of 301 kilometres, from Bursa to Izmir. Once completed, the work will guarantee the connection between the cities of Gebze (near Istanbul) and Izmir (on the Aegean coast), halving the current journey times by car, now over eight hours.
