Interbiak Bizkaia signs a 200m loan with the EIB: advisors

Cuatrecasas and King & Wood Mallesons have advised on a 200 million euro loan granted by the European Investment Bank (EIB) to Interbiak Bizkaia, a public company owned by the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, for the construction of a sub-fluvial tunnel under the Nervión estuary.

Image: José Ramón Berecibar (Cuatrecasas partner) and Joaquín Sales (KWM partner)

Thanks to this financing, and with the support of the Provincial Council of Bizkaia, a tunnel will be built to connect the Artaza traffic circles in Getxo with the Ballonti traffic circle between Portugalete and Sestao, thus providing an alternative to the Rontegi bridge to reduce the high traffic density and congestion at critical points in the road network of metropolitan Bilbao.

The operation is part of the EIB’s Transport Financing Policy and contributes to the EIB Group’s public policy priority ‘Sustainable Cities and Regions’. One of the main objectives of the project is to reform the socio-economic cohesion of five municipalities in the Bilbao metropolitan area, as well as to provide transport infrastructure compatible with regional and urban mobility planning.

In addition, the infrastructure is designed so that, in the future, there will be the possibility of integrating a rail connection taking advantage of the sub-fluvial tunnel to offer metro users a shuttle train connecting the two metro lines, which currently run along both banks of the estuary without crossing it.

Cuatrecasas team has advised Interbiak Bizkaia with a team formed by Tomás Ugalde and José Ramón Berecibar, lawyers of the financial and M&A area in charge of coordinating the advice on the transaction, with the active participation of Daniel Acedo.

KWM team has advised the EIB on this transaction, led by partner and head of the financial law team Joaquín Sales, with the assistance of associate Jesús Serna.