CMS has advised a consortium of Vinci and Meridiam on its public-private partnership contract for the construction of the D4 motorway in the Czech Republic, the country’s first road PPP. Vinci and Meridiam each have a 50% stake in the project, and EUR 474 million of financing has been obtained.
According to CMS, “the consortium won the 28-year contract in December 2020, which was then signed with the Czech Transport Ministry in February 2021. The project entails designing, financing, building, operating, and maintaining a new 32-kilometer motorway and the widening of an existing 16-kilometer section of road to two lanes in each direction. The new motorway will provide an improved road connection between Prague and rural South Bohemia.”
CMS’s team included, in Prague, Partners Lukas Janicek, Pavla Kreckova, Senior Associates Lenka Krutakova, Marketa Frankova, and Associates Lukas Vymola, Lenka Kucerova, Hana Ricankova, and Jan Gerych, and in London, Partner Robert Gray, Counsel Stephanie Flynn, and Senior Associate Toby Commander.
Editor’s note: After this article was published, Kinstellar announced that it and Linklaters advised lenders Ceskoslovenska Obchodni Banka, KfW IPEX, DZ Bank, NordLB, MEAG, SMBC, Siemens Bank, UniCredit, and Societe Generale on the deal. Kinstellar's team in Prague consisted of Partner Kamil Blazek, Counsels Martina Brezinova and Jan Lehky, Managing Associate Michal Forytek, and Junior Associates Alice Radvanovska, Denisa Simanska, and Igor Sebo.
The Linklaters team consisted of, in London, Partner Ian Andrews and Managing Associate Ryan Ayrton, and in Paris, Partner Francois April and Managing Associate Nathanael Caillard.
In addition, Clifford Chance announced that it had advised Meridiam and Vinci on the financing aspects of this deal. Clifford Chance’s team included Partner Daniel Zerbib, Counsels Chloe Desreumaux and Fabien Jacquemard, and Associates Sophie Laporte and Nina Yoshida.
White & Case advised the Czech Ministry of Transport. That firm’s team included, in Prague, Partner Vit Stehlik and Associates David Wilhelm, Renata Ryglova, and Jan Voborsky; in Bratislava, Partner Of Counsel Marek Staron and Counsel Peter Hodal; and in London, Partner Caroline Miller Smith.
