Project Finance

Our team has proudly advised on a number of high-profile cases as part of its Project Finance practice, namely:

• The consortium Fraport AG-Slentel Ltd in connection with the financing of the €1.2 billion upfront concession fee and the negotiation of the €10 billion Concession Agreement for the management, operation and maintenance of the Greek 14 regional airports.
• The Aegean Motorway Group (members of which are Hochtief, Vinci and Ellaktor), the Concessionaire (Aegean Motorway S.A.), in connection with the New Toll Road Maliakos-Kleidi concession, one of the three largest Greek toll road projects (above €1 billion).
• The Finance Parties (initially comprised of the National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank), now also including Alpha Bank S.A. and Eurobank S.A., i.e. all Greek systemic Banks, on the issuance by Athens International Airport S.A. of an up to €665.6m bond loan in connection with the 20-year extension of the Airport Development Agreement dated 31 July 1995, an up to €100m bond loan for the financing of capital expenditure projects, and an up to €140m bond loan for the financing of working capital and operational needs arising from the coronavirus pandemic.
• Aktor Concessions S.A. in respect of the concession of Alimos Marina, one of the largest marinas in Greece with one thousand permanent positions (of a Net Present Value of €57.5 million) and its financing by Alpha Bank.
• A Syndicate of Alpha Bank, Eurobank, HSBC and Piraeus Bank on the (i) refinancing of the syndicated bond loan issued by Lamda Domi, a subsidiary of Lamda Development, of the right to use the International Broadcasting Center (one of the key Olympic Assets, built in Greece for the 2004 Games), in which the leading Greek shopping center has been developed by Lamda Domi (Golden Hall) and (ii) the financing of its construction and development cost, a project of €91.3 million.
• An international consortium in relation to the currently on-going tender process launched by the Hellenic Republic Asset Development Fund (HRADF) for the award of the Egnatia Odos Motorway Service Concession Agreement, in relation to financing, operation, maintenance and exploitation of the Egnatia Odos Motorway and Three Vertical Road Axes, a €93 billion project.
• A syndicate of National Bank of Greece S.A. and Piraeus Bank S.A. in relation to an up to €163 million secured financing to ELTECH Anemos S.A., the listed subsidiary of Ellaktor S.A., one of the leading Greek companies in renewable energy (the former being now merged by absorption into the latter), involving in total thirteen (13) renewable energy projects operated and developed by Ellaktor.

Our Firm has been involved in the most significant projects of the latest decades in Greece, including advising:

• Hochtief (Concessionaire) in connection with the bidding process for the design, construction, development, operation, management and exploitation of the Athens International Spata Airport, a €2.1 billion project. Koutalidis Law Firm advised the Concessionaire from the commencement of the bidding process through to financial close of the concession agreement and is still providing Greek Law advice to the shareholders of the concession company on an ongoing basis.
• The Concessionaire in connection with the design, construction, development, operation, management and exploitation of the Athens Ring Road (“Attiki Odos”), a unique ring road project for the Greek market with a budget of €1.3 billion.
• The European Investment Bank in relation to the financing of the Thessaloniki Metro project.
• The European Investment Bank on the financing arrangements for the Rion-Antirion Bridge construction development, the longest cable bridge in Europe with a cost of €630 million.
• The concessionaire (Athens Tram SA) for the financing, construction and development of the Athens Tram.
• Bechtel in connection with the construction and development of the Athens Metro.
• Pylea SA (at the time a consortium company of Sierra Sonae, Acropole Charagionis and Lamda Development) on a €70m project finance secured bond loan issue in connection with the development and operation of “Mediterranean Cosmos” Shopping Center in Salonica.
• Sierra Sonae on a €30m project finance secured bond loan in connection with the development and operation of “Park Avenue” Shopping Center in Athens.
• A consortium of Greek Banks in connection with the € 80m secured financing to three (3) Wind Farms operated and developed by Anemos S.A., the listed subsidiary of Ellaktor S.A., one of the leading Greek companies in renewable energy.
• A consortium of Greek Banks in connection with the € 67m secured financing to two (2) Wind Farms operated and developed by GEK Terna S.A., a leading company in the renewable energy.
• RF Energy S.A., a Greek holding company engaged in the field of renewable energy sources, member of the FG Europe Group, on the refinancing of a €35m secured bond loan by Piraeus Bank in connection with the development and operation of a wind farm in Greece.
• RF Energy S.A. on the €12.8m project finance by Landesbank Baden – Württemberg in connection with a wind farm.
• Alpha Bank as hedging counterparty in the context of the project financing by means of a €47million bond loan for the purposes of funding a PPP for the construction of the Police Headquarters of Piraeus.
• Alpha Bank as hedging counterparty in the context of the project financing by means of a €27m bond loan issued by a major Greek toll-road company.
• Alpha Bank as hedging counterparty in the context of the refinancing of a 34.85 MW capacity wind farm and the financing of a 13.6 MW capacity wind farm in Achaia, Greece.