ATLANTA, GA — The ACS Group, through its U.S.-based affiliate ACS Infra (IRIDIUM), has successfully placed $3.44 billion in tax‑exempt private activity bonds (PABs) and closed a $3.89 billion Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) loan with the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT). These transactions represent a record‑setting financing package for Georgia’s SR 400 Express Lanes public‑private partnership (P3).
The tax-exempt PABs issuance, with an over subscription of nearly 1.7x and orders from over 90 investors, is the largest issuance for a highway asset ever, and will likely be this year’s largest deal in the U.S. municipal capital markets. Similarly, USDOT’s TIFIA Loan issued through its Build America Bureau, marks the single-largest ever TIFIA Loan issued for any asset to date.
The project, procured by the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) and the State Road and Tollway Authority (SRTA), marks a historic milestone as the first revenue-risk managed lanes project in the state. It will deliver approximately 16 miles of new express toll lanes along the SR 400 corridor, enhancing mobility, reducing congestion, and increasing safety and travel time reliability across the Atlanta, Georgia, metro and beyond. The operations term of 50 years following construction completion includes the operations and maintenance of the new express lanes and the free general purpose lanes.
Under the consortium name SR 400 Peach Partners, ACS Infra and its partners Acciona and Meridiam secured a comprehensive financing package that includes:
- A low-interest USDOT TIFIA loan — the largest single TIFIA loan ever issued
- Tax-exempt PABs priced in the U.S. capital markets — the single largest P3 bind financing in the U.S. market
- Equity contributions by each sponsor (33.33 percent each), fully backstopped by letters of credit at financial close to support the 5.5-year construction program
- Total capital investment of $10.99 billion, including $4.6 billion in design-build construction as well as an upfront concession fee to GDOT and SRTA of $3.8 billion
| Your local Topcon Positioning Systems Inc dealer |
|---|
| Linder Industrial Machinery |
ACS Group’s U.S. civil contractor, FlatironDragados, together with Acciona operating as a 50/50 joint venture, are responsible for the design and construction of the SR 400 Express Lanes Project. Both firms bring experience in delivering large-scale, complex transportation infrastructure across North America. Their combined capabilities ensure the project will benefit from expertise in heavy civil construction, engineering, and project execution.
The SR 400 Express Lanes Project includes the construction of two managed lanes in each direction for approximately 16 miles, as well as an additional managed lane in some additional segments of the project. The project is in Atlanta, Georgia, which is the third fastest growing city in the United States and home to one of the world's busiest airports. Further growth is expected for the corridor, with 144,000 more residents and 114,000 more jobs projected by 2050.
A critical piece of Georgia's Major Mobility Investment Program (MMIP) that seeks to improve roadway connections and reduce congestion on both SR 400 itself and its connection to I-285, SR 400 is the primary north-south link between Atlanta's job centers and the work and residential areas to the north in Fulton and Forsyth counties.
“Achieving financial close marks a major milestone and reflects over a year of collaboration with GDOT and SRTA,” said Nuria Haltiwanger, Chairwoman & CEO for ACS Infra, CEO of IRIDIUM, and Chief Investment Officer for Infrastructure of ACS Group. “We are honored to partner with the state of Georgia on a project that will deliver much-needed congestion relief for metro Atlanta, while unlocking significant opportunities for economic development, job creation, and long-term investment across the region.”
