Cintra recoups 44 per cent of the investment in Chicago Skyway in just 7 months

Company obtains 206 million USD from a 1.55 billion USD refinancing of the toll road The deal included placing a 1.4 billion USD bond issue in the US, the largest-ever toll road bond issue in that country Toll road and car park operator Cintra has recovered 44% of its initial investment in Chicago Skyway after completing a 1.55 billion USD refinancing deal. Cintra has collected a total of 206 million USD (approximately 166 million euro) as a special distribution. The operation will also improve shareholder IRR (internal rate of return) by over 150 basis points. The refinancing deal included placing a 1.4 billion USD bond issue in the US, the largest-ever toll road bond issue in that country, and the arrangement of a 150 million USD subordinated loan. The refinancing deal comes seven months after the acquisition of Chicago Skyway and five months after closure of a 1.19 billion USD syndicated senior non-recourse credit line to finance the acquisition. Flexibility for future refinancing The bond comprises two series: Series B for an amount of 961 million USD, maturing in 21 years; and Series A (bullet) for an amount of 439 million USD, maturing in 12 years. The bonds are FRNs (floating-rate notes) and will be converted into fixed rate (both series) and zero coupon (series B) by means of swaps. Moreover, this structure provides flexibility for refinancing in the future. The bonds are rated Aaa by Moody´s and AAA by Standard & Poor's. Monoline insurer FSA guarantees payment of the bond coupon and principal. Chicago Skyway: first toll road in operation to be privatised in the United States January 05: Acquisition of Chicago Skyway: investment of 1.83 billion USD for a 99-year concession. Operational since 1959, it is a 7.8-mile (12.5 km) elevated toll road. With a 55% stake, Cintra leads the managing consortium, in partnership with Macquarie Infrastructure Group. February 05: Tolls for light vehicles increased to 2.5 dollars (USD). The concession agreement envisages a progressive increase in tolls from 2 USD in 2005 to 5 USD in 2017. From 2017 onwards, tolls will rise annually by the highest of: 2%, the increase in CPI, or the increase in nominal GDP per capita. March 05: Closure of syndication of a 1.19 billion USD non-recourse senior debt facility for the acquisition of the Chicago Skyway: the deal was 100% oversubscribed by 15 international banks. June 05: Electronic tolling implemented on 6 of the 16 toll lanes, now used by 30% of peak-time users. Cintra, one of the world´s largest private-sector transport infrastructure developers Cintra, a subsidiary of Ferrovial, is one of the world´s leading private-sector developers of transport infrastructure, with committed investment of 2 billion euro in concession companies´ equity. Cintra manages a total of 18 toll roads, in Spain (9), Portugal (2), Ireland (1), Chile (4), Canada (1) and the United States (1). In the United States, Cintra is also strategic partner of the State of Texas in the design and planning of the Trans-Texas Corridor. Cintra is also Spain´s leading car park operator and manages over 214,000 parking spaces, most of them in Spain.