Lega Advisor Financing Component - Zipaquira Rail

The
International Finance Corporation (“IFC”), a member of the World Bank, has been
approached by the Government of Cundinamarca (“GoC”) through the Mobility
Secretariat (“SMC”) and the Empresa Férrea Regional (“EFR”) (jointly the
“Client”), to act as transaction lead advisors to of the Zipaquirá Train by
structuring and implementing one brownfield rail project under a Public-Private
Partnership (“PPP”) arrangement (the “Project”).
The
objective of the project is to support the Client and act as lead transaction
advisor to prepare, promote and tender a transaction that will pursue the
construction and operation and maintenance of a regional mass transport rail
connection between Bogota and the northern surrounding cities (Chia, Cajica and
Zipaquira). Furthermore, IFC would integrate environmental and social (E&S)
considerations for both decarbonization and resilience, gender, and
accessibility elements into the new concession structure.
Tren
de Zipaquirá would utilize the existing route of the Bogotá-Belencito railway
corridor from the current kilometer point 05+000 to La Caro, where it diverges
to occupy the La Caro-Zipaquirá railway corridor to the current kilometer point
54+400.The preliminary studies propose light metro-type trains with total
expected CAPEX of US$2.5 billion, to service approximately 153k passengers per
day.
The
concessionaire would be responsible for the design, financing, construction,
operation, and maintenance of 48.9 kilometers of railway infrastructure. From
the total km of the corridor, 25.3 kms will pass through urban areas and the
remaining 23.7 kms through suburban/rural areas. The most suitable construction
method, as preliminarily determined by the feasibility studies, is the
development of two railway tracks (one in each direction) with 24 stations (10
underground, 13 at ground level, and 1 elevated).
Objectives:
After the signing
of the mandate with the Client, the IFC’s advisory mandate will be implemented
into two phases:
·
Phase 1 - Transaction
Structuring
: IFC and its consultants will analyze all aspects of
the Project, including capital investment program, financial viability,
technical and legal due diligence, regulatory framework, environmental and
social issues.  IFC will then recommend
to the Client the optimal scope and structure for the Transaction that would
require government approval before proceeding to Phase 2.
·
Phase 2 - Transaction
Implementation
: IFC, with the support of its consultants, will
implement the approved transaction structure, including marketing the
Transaction to potential investors, prequalification of investors and design of
bid criteria, preparation of legal documents for a competitive international
tender, oversight of the tender process, and assistance to the Client in
evaluation of the bids and closing of the Transaction.
IFC is seeking to
hire a Legal Advisor to support IFC and the Client in structure the strategy
for the public financing and preparing negotiations with commercial and/or
multilateral banks to secure the first tranche of the public financing for the
project’s eligible components, based on the co-financing government arrangement.