Privatization Council assigns
international tender advisors

$4 billion projects in airport,

highway, and data centers

The Higher Council for Privatization (HCP) has signed contracts with International Finance Corporation (IFC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), British firm Solon, and French firm KPMG, as international advisors.

The IFC was appointed as transaction advisor for the project to expand Beirut Rafic Hariri International Airport to receive 20 million passengers.

The EBRD is the transaction advisor for the development of Khalde-Nahr Ibrahim Highway.

Solon and KPMG are advising on the development of National Data Centers.

The value of the three projects combined is $4 billion.

Ziad Hayek, Chairman of HCP, said: “The advisors will assist in preparing the files and the complete studies related to each project. They are also tasked with finding interested investors to participate in the tenders.”

The contracts are success-based. Advisors get paid according to the size of investments they bring in.

Studies related to the airport need 21 months to be completed, for the highway three years, and for data centers 14 months, according to Hayek.

The Ministry of Telecommunication (MoT) is planning to build two datacenters hosting a local cloud platform, to be owned, managed, and operated by the private sector.

A $500 million expansion of the airport will include a new flight terminal and will gradually raise the overall capacity to 20 million passengers by 2030.

The Khalde-Nahr Ibrahim Expressway has a length of 38 kilometers including a 12-km tunnel section, three and four lanes, interchanges, service roads, and bridges.