Odebrecht Buys Kuntur Option

Brazilian infrastructure developer Odebrecht has signed a deal with Conduit Capital for an option to acquire a 51% stake in Peru’s Kuntur Transportadora de Gas, according to Conduit partner Marc Frishman. The asset is a gas pipeline that will require about $1.5bn to be developed. “Odebrecht is advancing a significant amount and will invest more than enough to conclude the concession agreement,” Frishman tells LatinFinance, without disclosing the exact amounts of the deal. He adds that the pipeline development will be financed with Conduit’s own equity and debt financing, which the New York-based private equity shop is in the process of obtaining. Frishman adds that construction will begin in Q1 2011, after the project gets an environmental impact assessment and a risk study required by the local government. The pipeline will take 5 years to build.