EUR 200m EIB loan for France's biggest motorway project, the A19

The 65-year concession for the A19, a 100km section of motorway between Artenay and Courtenay (south of Paris and Île de France), was awarded to ARCOUR, a subsidiary of VINCI Concession, in April 2005. The initial financing was provided by the VINCI Group via an intra-group loan.

EIB loan with an exceptional maturity of 37 years for France’s largest current motorway project:

On 14 March 2008, the EIB granted a EUR 200m loan with a maturity of 37 years to finance ARCOUR's investment in the construction of the A19 motorway and thus take over, with long-term limited recourse funding, from the existing intra-group loan. This loan is being provided in tandem with a EUR 425m loan with a maximum maturity of 10 years provided by a group of mandated lead arrangers comprising BBVA, Calyon, Fortis, ING and The Royal Bank of Scotland.

The A19 motorway is scheduled to open to traffic during the third quarter of 2009. This is the largest motorway project currently under way in France, involving work costing an estimated EUR 675m. This new motorway link will improve transport conditions for the various road users travelling in the Orleans – Sens corridor, which is used by through traffic between the major radial motorways connecting Paris with the south, and by regional and local traffic. It will provide a continuous motorway connection between the east and west of France, avoiding the Paris region. The A19 forms part of the trans-European transport network (TEN).

Trans-European transport networks – a priority for the EIB:

This new loan confirms the EIB’s commitment to – and leading position in – financing the trans-European transport networks, a priority objective for which it has provided finance totalling some EUR 83bn since the Union’s TENs policy was established in 1993. It is also in line with the EU’s proactive policy of facilitating the movement of people and goods within the Union. Under this heading the EIB is involved in all major infrastructure projects in Europe, including those carried out as public-private partnerships (PPPs).