December 2001 (Revised April 2003)
Case
HBS Case Collection

Poland's A2 Motorway

Format:Print
| Pages:18

Abstract

Autostrada Wielkopolska S.A. (AWSA) is a consortium of 18 firms that won a concession to build and operate Poland's first private toll road. In June 2000, AWSA's chief financial officer, Wojciech Gebicki, is preparing for a meeting with the projects' lead bankers to discuss concerns they have regarding the traffic forecasts and revenue projections. Based on their concerns, the bankers are asking the sponsors to inject an additional e60 to e90 million of equity into the deal, a sizeable increase given the projects' total cost of e934 million and the sponsor's current equity commitment of e235 million. This request presents a serious problem for Gebicki (AWSA) because the concession is scheduled to expire in six weeks if financing has not closed and because he has very few options available to address the problem. This case describes the deal structure and invites students to accept or dispute Gebicki's view that the major risks have been identified, assessed, and mitigated in such a way that the senior lenders are adequately protected without further equity support.