Banks commit billions to Berlin airport project

The development of the Berlin Brandenburg International Airport is to benefit from a €2.4bn infrastructure financing package. Seven German banks, led by KfW IPEX-Bank, are providing €1.4bn, with the European Investment Bank chipping in with a further €1bn.

The development of Berlin Brandenburg International Airport has received a boost with an infrastructure financing package from a German banking consortium.

KfW IPEX-Bank, the agent of the banking group, in addition to ILB and IBB, are each lending €310 million. Landesbank Berlin and NordLB are each contributing €150 million, while DZ BANK is lending €100 million and Berliner Volksbank is putting up €70 million. The total contribution from the seven German banks amounts to €1.4 billion. The ten-year debt package is fully guaranteed by the Federal Republic of Germany and the states of Berlin and Brandenburg.

The European Investment Bank is lending a further €1 billion to the project. Financial close on the project occurred yesterday.

KfW Bankengruppe’s chairman praised the closing of the transaction in the current climate: “The expertise and experience of the participating banks with financing infrastructure projects played a major role in this deal. The states of Berlin and Brandenburg and also the Federal Republic clearly underscored their commitment to the undertaking by offering guarantees, making them additional key factors contributing to the successful conclusion of the negotiations. This marks the accomplishment of a further milestone in the realisation of this important infrastructure project”.

The Berlin Brandenburg International Airport project will see the development of a new airport, utilising some of the existing infrastructure of Berlin Schönefeld Airport. The new airport is set to open in 2011.