Puerto Rico selects four bidders for toll roads

Puerto Rico has selected four teams of investors to submit proposals for the first toll road deal being procured under its public-private partnership law, the Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority said in a statement.

The four teams, culled down from a list of eight respondents who submitted their credentials for the process in late July, are:

– Morgan Stanley Infrastructure, a $4 billion infrastructure fund, and OHL Concessions, the concession unit of Spanish infrastructure developer OHL;

– Brazilian toll road concessionaire CCR, Companhia de Concessoes Rodoviárias;

– Citi Infrastructure Investors, a $3.4 billion infrastructure fund, and Itínere Infraestructuras, its toll road investment subsidiary;

– Spanish infrastructure developer Abertis Infraestructuras and Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners II, Goldman Sachs’ $3.1 billion infrastructure fund.

Puerto Rico examined a combination of technical and financial capabilities in evaluating which of the eight potential bidders would be given an opportunity to submit proposals for the project. All the bidding teams comprised of infrastructure funds partnered with toll road concession companies moved on in the process.

The four teams will be asked to submit proposals to finance, operate and maintain Puerto Rico’s toll roads PR-22 and PR-5. The roads are being tendered to private investors as part of the broader economic development plan championed by Puerto Rico Governor Luis Fortuno.

The Puerto Rico Public-Private Partnerships Authority intends to issue a request for proposals and a draft of a concession agreement for the roads and related technical appendixes by late September or early October.