Assisting an international consortium in the tender process of the Jerusalem light-rail network (Jnet)

• Business Dilemma:
  The BOT tender published by the Israeli government for the Jerusalem light-rail network (Jnet), included taking over the existing Red Line (14 km, 23 stations, one depot); an extension of the Red Line (8 km, 12 stations, one depot); and construction of the new Green Line (20 km, 41 stations, one depot) – all while operating and maintaining existing services. TASC assisted an international consortium of a leading Israeli civil-engineering company and a Spanish rolling stock and system manufacturer in a bid for the takeover, expansion, operation, and maintenance of Jnet. Following completion of a five-year multi-stage construction period, the consortium would be entitled to a 20-year operating and maintenance period. To finance over 5B NIS of construction costs, a multi-currency financing package of over 3.5B NIS was required

• Process:
  The Consortium hired TASC’s Finance team to advise on all project stages from bid submission and award to financial close. Our team built and negotiated a financing plan based on non-recourse project financing for the entire project term. The final financing agreement included multiple NIS and EU tranches totalling over 3.5B NIS and was fully committed by Israel’s largest bank along with Israeli institutional investors and other banks

• Strategic Solution & Impact:
  The consortium was awarded the concession after a competitive bid in Q4 2019 and financial close was reached on schedule in Q4 2020. Construction work is ongoing and TASC continues to support our clients in project implementation

For more information: Tom Maurice, Tom.Maurice@tasc-consulting.com