With this financing, Cofides and its partner, Grupo Ortiz, will acquire 50% of the stake held by a local partner, once again supporting the company in the operation and maintenance of this road infrastructure project.
Cofides, the Spanish state-owned company that provides financial support to investments in the country through the Fund for Investments Abroad (FIEX) and its own resources, will increase its stake in the capital of Concesión Transversal del Sisga (from 24.9% to 49.9%) in Colombia and the subordinated debt granted for a total amount of 19.5 million euros (US$ 20.3 million).
With this financing, Cofides and Grupo Ortiz will acquire 50% of the stake held by a local partner, once again supporting the company in the operation and maintenance of the Transversal del Sisga highway in Colombia.
The Transversal del Sisga concession is part of Colombia's fourth generation highway concession program, '4G'. Currently fully operational, the 137-kilometer highway corridor has provided an alternative to connecting the center of the country and benefits the populations of the departments of Cundimarca, Boyacá and Casanare, crossing areas of 5.2 million inhabitants.
Cofides is thus once again supporting Grupo Ortiz in this project, after participating in the company's capital and subordinated debt in 2018. Grupo Ortiz has extensive experience in Colombia, where it develops different concessions, in which Cofides participates in four of them (roads, transmission line and hospital).
This project contributes to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 8 (Decent work and economic growth), as it has generated more than 8,700 direct jobs.
The corporate director of Cofides' Investments department, Miguel Ángel Ladero, has commented that for Cofides it is "very important" to collaborate with Spanish companies in the implementation of large infrastructures that contribute to improving economic structure and growth.
For his part, the director of concessions at Grupo Ortiz, Alberto de la Fuente, has pointed out the importance of continuing to collaborate with Cofides on its concession projects in Colombia and highlights that the expansion of its participation in the Transversal del Sisga Concession reinforces its commitment to Colombia and to the development of its transport infrastructure.
