Rs 2,300 million long-term finance facility for Lafco

The signing ceremony to mark the financial close of Rs 2,300 million term finance facility for LAFCO (Pvt) Limited was held on Saturday at the Habib Bank Plaza.
It was attended by representatives from all the JV partners and consortium banks.
The project financing has been arranged, underwritten and financed by a consortium of Habib Bank Limited and National Bank of Pakistan.
President of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) Zakir Mahmood in his welcome address termed LAFCO as a landmark transaction in terms of infrastructure BOT project in Pakistan.
He also expressed that the HBL is proud to play a lead role in the first of a kind infrastructure financing project in the private sector.
President of National Bank of Pakistan Ali Raza highlighted that the banking sector as a whole is coming off age in terms of providing new innovative products and diversifying their approach with services to meet creative needs of their customers.
Major General Shahid Niaz, CEO, LAFCO, in his address thanked the consortium team members involved in the transaction for their dedication and hard work to achieve the financial close within a short period of time.
He commended the Punjab government and the federal government for their continued support to bring the project to this stage.
The BOT project will contribute in rapid development of communication infrastructure, which was, otherwise, not possible due to financial constraints. It will also provide relief to the Punjab government in saving them from administrative and maintenance expenditure.
The LAFCO (Private) Limited will provide operations and maintenance services for 25 years and recover the cost through levy of tolls.
The LAFCO (Pvt) Limited formed by a consortium of leading construction companies including Frontier Works Organisation (FWO), Khalid Rauf & Co (Pvt) Limited, Habib Rafiq (Pvt) Limited and Sachal Engineering Works.
It is undertaking the first Built, Operate & Transfer (BOT) project in the Punjab province by constructing 116kms Lahore-Sheikhupura-Faisalabad dual carriageway at a cost of approximately Rs 4 billion in three years.
The project will benefit more than 1000 large industrial units and serve a population of 15.5 million in the area.
This will not only accelerate further economic growth in the area but also provide greater employment opportunities for the local population and improve their standards of living. The project is expected to be completed by March 2007.-PR