Meridiam Infrastructure is pleased to announce that for the R1 Motorway Project in Slovakia, financial close was achieved on 27th August 2009 making Meridiam Infrastructure a 50% shareholder in the project company Granvia a.s alongside Vinci Concessions. The debt financing of approximately €1 billion was supported by 13 commercial banks and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development who committed €200 million to the project.
 
The R1 Motorway Project comprises the design, construction, financing and operation the R1 Motorway from Nitra and Tekovske Nemce as well as the Banska Bystrica Northern Bypass for a total length of 51.6 km. The concession for this important transport link in the south west of the Slovak Republic will last for 30 years and is availability payment based. This project marks the first PPP project closed in Slovakia, one of the first PPP structured projects in the Central Eastern European, and one of the largest European PPP transactions in 2009 that has reached successful closure.