Five SP highways to be auctioned on the 29th of October
O Estado de S. Paulo - 09/02/2008
The government of the State of São Paulo defined October 29th as a date for the public tender of the five lots of state highways included in the program of privatization in September of last year. In the total, 1.715 kilometers (Km) of state highways will be in the public tender, including Marechal Rondon (East and West), Dom Pedro I, Raposo Tavares, Ayrton Senna and Carvalho Pinto highways. The concessions are made based on a hybrid model, combining the traditional onerous grant (amount paid by the concessionaire for the right to manage the highway) and the smallest rate (used on the auction of federal highways). The winner of the dispute will be the company that offers the smallest toll fare for the consumer. According to the public notice, the bids will be made from the ceiling price set by the government, R$ 0.077078 per km for sections of simple stretches and R$ 0.107910 for double stretches. The amount of the onerous grant will be set at R$ 3.498 billion (US$ 2.15 billion), 20% of which has to be paid before the signature of the contract and the remaining balance in 18 months. The most valuable highway of grant is Dom Pedro I, at R$ 1.342 billion (US$ 823.3 million). According to specialists, the reason is the great flow of vehicles, which also makes the 297-Km highway the most attractive one among all the offered lots. 447-Km long Raposo Tavares highway will have the second highest grant, R$ 634 million (US$ 389 million). The concession contracts will be signed for a period of 30 years in which the concessionaire has to invest nearly R$ 8 billion (US$ 4.9 billion). But most of that money will have to be invested on the highways in the first ten years. According to the market information, part of the improvements will be financed by the National Economic and Social Development Bank (BNDES). Secretary of Transports of the State of São Paulo Mauro Arce foresees very attractive fare prices for the consumer, besides significant progress in the quality of the state's highways. Something new in the public tender is that the companies will be also responsible for the maintenance of more than 900 Km of side roads without any collection of toll fares. The innovation worried investors a little. "We will have to evaluate how those side roads are in order to evaluate the attractiveness of the deal", affirmed the president and director of relationship with investors of Triunfo Participações, Carlo Bottarelli.