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Colombia's National Infrastructure Agency (ANI) has announced the achievement of the financial close for the Sea highway 1 ("Autopistas del Mar 1").

The funding package has been led by Japanese Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, which has committed around US$450 million for the project.

In September 2015, the consortium Estructura Plural SAC 4G, composed of Sacyr Colombia S.A.S. (37.5%), Strabag S.A.S.(37.5%) and Concay S.A. (25%), signed the contract for the PPP project development.

The 176 km road will connect the city of Medellín and the Sea highway 2 "Autopista al Mar 2". The project involves the construction of 17 tunnels and 41 bridges. It includes the following road stretches: Occidente-San Jerónimo, San Jerónimo-Santafé de Antioquia, and Bolombolo-Santafé de Antioquia.

The total project investment is estimated at P1.51 billion (US$478.8 million).

The project, which belongs to the 'Autopistas para la Prosperidad' package of highway projects, is part of the second wave of 4G highway projects, including a total of 9 concessions. This second wave includes a total investment of about P11,800 billion (US$4.64 billion). 4G involves the construction of about 8,000km of roads, including 1,200km of four-lane highways, with the majority of projects to be carried out as PPPs.

In October, we have also  informed  about the financial closure for the Popayán - Santander de Quilichao road PPP and the Bucaramanga - Barrancabermeja - Yondó road PPP, which are both part of the second wave of 4G highway projects.