Rubicon Capital Advisors has achieved financial close for a £3.8 billion ($4.7 billion) sewer project in the United Kingdom.
Rubicon provided £75 million ($93 million) in financing for the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, which runs 25 kilometers (15.5 miles) under the River Thames, through a fixed-rate green bond transaction, issued through the Green Bond Framework.
According to Rubicon, the notes were structured with a delayed drawdown of funds for the first two years to help the funding timetable for the construction of the tunnel.
Rubicon acted as placement agent and there was a sole institutional debt investor for this transaction.
According to Tideway, the company delivering the Thames Tideway Tunnel project, the tunnel is designed to replace a 150-year-old sewer system in London through which millions of tonnes of recurrent raw sewer spillage into the River Thames every year. Tideway is owned by a consortium of investors, including U.K. pension funds.
The cost of the project is being paid for by Thames Water’s 15 million wastewater customers’ bills, which will rise by no more than £25 ($31) per year.
Work on the project began in 2015 and construction is now under way at 24 sites in London. The project is slated for completion in 2024.
