BIIS (Banca Infrastrutture Innovazione e Sviluppo) has provided a €150 million bridge loan to cover the first part of construction work for the €1.6 billion Brescia-Bergamo-Milan highway project.

Lombardy motorway authority Concessioni Autostradali Lombarde (CAL) and project company BreBeMi Spa signed the agreement to cover construction work that is already underway and move the project through to the financial close stage.

Technical and traffic due diligence is currently being carried out by transport consultants Steer Davies Gleave and is set to be completed by the end of October - paving the way for a BIIS-led bank group to achieve financial close by early next year at the latest. The motorway is scheduled to become fully operational by 2013.

The 19.5 year DBFO concession agreement includes the development of 62km of highway and nearly 37km of new roads.

BIIS (Intesa Sanpaolo) owns 40 per cent of Autostrade Lombarde, which owns 86 per cent of the BreBeMi SPV - led by Pizzarotti and CCC.

Ashurst is acting as legal adviser to the lenders, while Norton Rose is providing legal advice to the consortium. BIIS is acting as financial adviser and transport consultant Steer Davies Gleave is carrying out the traffic due diligence.

The €3.2 billion Autostrada Tirrenica project is also expected to seek financing from early next year and construction work is currently underway. On 11 March the draft single concession agreement was signed on the basis of the preliminary plan approved by the CIPE.

The Tirrenica scheme includes the construction of an additional 205km and is due for completion by 2016.