EIB makes A19 loan

The European Investment Bank (EIB) has provided a € 200 million, 37 year loan to Vinci Concession subsidiary Arcour to help finance construction of the A 19 motorway in France.

Arcour won the 65 year concession contract in to build and operate the 100 km A 19 in April 2005. Initial financing came from Vinci in the form of an intra-group loan. This has now been replaced by the EIB loan and commercial debt of € 425 million from a consortium of banks. The commercial loan has a 10 year maturity period.

The A 19 is due to open in the third quarter of 2009, following construction work valued at € 675 million. It is the biggest road building project currently underway in France

The road is expected to improve transport links between Orleans and Sens, and form part of Paris's radial motorway network. The A 19 is also a Trans-European Network (TENs) project

The EIB says it has leant more than € 83 billion to TENs schemes since the initiative was launched in 1993.