Exciting opportunities in Latin America

Steer Davies Gleave has been an active player in transportation infrastructure developments in Latin America for over 30 years. Here we provide a quick snapshot of developments in some of our key Latin American markets.

Chile
Santiago de Chile was the first city in Latin America to implement an urban toll road system. Over the years, SDG has worked extensively with a number of investors, such as Autopista Central, Costanera Norte, Vespucio Sur and Radial Nor Oriente on these toll road projects.

Today, several of these toll roads need redevelopment, generating new opportunities, not just of infrastructure but also in terms of technology and innovation.

Brazil
The federal government in Brazil has recently announced a transportation infrastructure and economic development program focusing on roads, railways, airports and ports.

The total investment in highways will be US$ 21 billion, with US$ 6.3 billion programmed for 2015. 

For railways, the investment will be near US$ 27 billion and is set to include the Bioceanic railway, connecting Brazil to the Pacific coast, which is being developed in partnership with governments and companies from both Peru and China.

An investment of nearly US$ 12 billion for ports around Brazil will fund 63 new private terminals, new leases and 24 renovations of old terminals. The previous lot of port concessions is currently going ahead with 29 terminals approved.

Finally, in airports, this wave of concessions will include four international airports at Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Salvador and Florianópolis. Seven regional airports are also included in the concessions, with a combined investment of US$ 25 billion.

Colombia
Colombia has recently embarked on an ambitious road development program, which includes nine government-awarded projects currently in the process of securing financial close. The revenue for these projects will come from both toll collection and government availability payments.

Steer Davies Gleave has been an active player in this program, having advised the government from 2007 to 2011 in Ruta del Sol, a project that kick-started a new way of structuring toll road projects. We are currently advising on eight out of the nine awarded projects.

Mexico
Since 2007, Steer Davies Gleave has acted as the main advisor to the private sector and government on the toll road concession and PPP program in Mexico. SDG has developed more than 60 projects in the last five years, including two of the biggest financial closures worldwide with US$ 4.5 billion.

The Mexico City airport is also currently in the design process, and while it is not expected to be a private concession, there are several investment opportunities around the project. The government also recently announced concession program on medium size cities.

The third area that might be of interest is big developments. In Mexico City, the government is working on an ambitious and immediate development program around nine intermodal stations, which is likely to generate opportunities for mixed-use developments related to public transit operations.

In addition to the specific developments mentioned above, SDG is also an active player in Puerto Rico, Panama and Peru.