Skip to main content

Canada: National Bank and Axium refinance Sea-to-Sky Highway

National Bank Financial and Axium Infrastructure have refinanced the Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project in the Canadian province of British Columbia. A statement from Axium said that the US$427 million 25-year public-private-partnership had “strong investor support and an A2 rating from Moody’s”. The Sea-to-Sky Highway Investment Limited Partnership - Axium Infrastructure, Régime de Rentes du Mouvement Desjardins and Nova Scotia Pension Agency - is the consortium in charge of the concession. In
July 19, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
National Bank Financial and Axium Infrastructure have refinanced the Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project in the Canadian province of British Columbia.

A statement from Axium said that the US$427 million 25-year public-private-partnership had “strong investor support and an A2 rating from Moody’s”.

The Sea-to-Sky Highway Investment Limited Partnership - Axium Infrastructure, Régime de Rentes du Mouvement Desjardins and Nova Scotia Pension Agency - is the consortium in charge of the concession.

In 2010 the Axium consortium acquired 100% of the original 25-year design-build-finance-operate concession contract of the project from the concession holders, 2378 Macquarie Essential Assets Partnership, MEAP). The province retains ownership of the highway.

The Sea-to-Sky Highway is part of Highway 99 from West Vancouver to Whistler, site of the Winter Olympic Games in February 2010. But it was in 2005 that the provincial ministry of transportation began road upgrades under the Sea-to-Sky Highway Improvement Project.

Major improvements were completed in late 2009 that saw the road go from a winding two-lane mountain road to a smoother often four-lane highway. Work included upgrading 95km of the road, constructing 48 bridges and interchanges and more than 200 retaining walls.

Apart from Macquarie Group, which was the project manager, other original concession partners were Peter Kiewit Sons as design-builder, Hatch 2579 Mott MacDonald for engineering work and design, JJM Construction, ND Lea, McElhanney Engineering Services, Miller Paving and Capilano Highway Services. The concession holder invested around $400m in its contract to design, build, finance and operate a highway in its 25-year performance-based contract.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Houston, Texas is seeing fast expansion of population, with in vast increases in traffic
    October 9, 2018
    The US city of Houston is expanding fast and its transport system is having to be developed to cope
  • Kenya develops annuity road funding model
    May 8, 2015
    Kenya is introducing novel methods for funding its necessary road infrastructure development - Shem Oirere writes. Kenya has unveiled a new financing model for road construction and reviewed its design standards and construction methodologies, which forms part of a new strategy for the East African country. Under this new plan Kenya is planning to upgrade 10,000km of road, with these links featuring asphalt surfacing; the work being carried out over the next five years at a cost of US$2.8 billion. Despite t
  • Major bridge widening project going to plan
    April 11, 2012
    When built it was determined that a vital US road/rail bridge would always be widened. Work on that huge project is going to plan as Patrick Smith reports One of the biggest bridge widening projects in the world is being carried out under an ambitious development programme. At US$1.2 billion, the seven-year scheme to widen the Huey P. Long Bridge in the US state of Louisiana is also the largest of 16 projects planned under the state's TIMED (Transportation Infrastructure Model for Economic Development)
  • Spanish firms interested in US$740mn Chile bridge project
    June 5, 2013
    Spanish companies Sacyr, ACS and OHL will take part in three of the consortia that will bid in the US$740 million contract to build the longest suspension bridge in Chile. Works for the 2.5km Chacao Bridge, connecting the island of Chiloe and Chile's coast line, are expected to be awarded during the first quarter of 2014, with construction due to begin in 2015.