Lumière 4.0 LED Streetlighting PPP

Zoran Manovic advised the consortium comprising Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF), EDF Luminus, EDF Citelum and CFE on its successful bid for and financing of the Lumière 4.0 LED Streetlighting PPP. Tendered by SOFICO, the project comprised the 20-year design, build, finance, and maintenance (DBFM) of energy-efficient LED streetlighting across approximately 110,000 light points, covering 2,700 km of highways, ring roads, interchanges, and national roads throughout Wallonia.

Acting as the lead financial adviser under Belfius’ advisory mandate, Zoran worked alongside Belfius and BDO to structure and raise the project’s senior debt financing. His role included

• reviewing project and financing documentation, and identifying key bankability issues
• preparing lender information materials, developing, and managing the competitive debt-raising process
• negotiating financing terms, evaluating lender proposals, and recommending the preferred financing structure
• working with AECOM, the Lenders’ Technical Adviser, on the EPC and maintenance security packages
• preparing the financing plan for the consortium’s Best and Final Offer
• coordinating insurance due diligence and the model audit
• developing the hedging strategy
• supporting negotiation of the financing documentation and satisfaction of conditions precedent through to Financial Close.

At Best and Final Offer stage, two fully structured financing solutions had been developed: an all-commercial bank debt solution and an alternative structure combining commercial bank debt with financing from a multilateral lender. Maintaining both financing routes through the final stages of the tender provided competitive tension and a high degree of funding certainty. The project reached Financial Close in February 2019 with six MLAs — BBVA, Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, KBC, SMBC and Société Générale. The debt process generated commitments equivalent to approximately 160% of the project’s funding requirement, demonstrating strong lender appetite for the transaction. Other advisers to the consortium included DLA Piper (Legal) and Tiberghien (Tax & Accounting). Lender advisers included Jones Day (Legal), AECOM (Technical), WTW (Insurance) and Operis (Model Audit). The project achieved availability by December 2024.