Landmark New Cairo deal reaches financial close

The lenders to the New Cairo wastewater project signed a facility agreement on 3 February and a direct agreement on 4 February with the project’s sponsors to provide a 15-year EGP600 million ($110 million) debt package.

The club of four lenders – National Société Générale Bank (the facility agent), Commercial International Bank, Arab African International Bank and Ahli United Bank – will provide the debt at a fixed margin understood to be in excess of 300 basis points over the Central Bank of Egypt’s lending rate.

The 50:50 developer consortium of aqualia and Orascom Construction Industries was awarded the build-own-operate-transfer contract in June 2009 for a new 250,000m3/d WWTP to serve New Cairo City.

Based on a 70:30 debt-to-equity split, the total EPC cost of the project is around EGP857 million ($157 million), against a total contract value, over the 20-year contract duration, of EGP2.646 billion ($483 million).