6/19/2022
- Qatar Investment Authority (QIA) signed a share purchase agreement with SK Group entities, including SK ecoplant to acquire c. 24.5% indirect equity interest in ATAS, the concessionaire for Eurasia Tunnel
- SK ecoplant will continue its operational initiative by maintaining c. 25.5% indirect equity interest in ATAS and intends to maintain a long-term partnership with QIA
Seoul and Doha, 19 June 2022: SK ecoplant, a leading Korean engineering and construction company, announced today that QIA, the sovereign wealth fund of the State of Qatar, has agreed to acquire a c. 24.5% indirect equity interest for c. US$160 million in Avrasya Tüneli İşletme İnşaat ve Yatırım A.Ş. (ATAS), the concessionaire of Eurasia Tunnel, from SK Group entities including SK ecoplant. After divesting its partial stake for c. US$18 million, SK ecoplant will continue to hold a c. 25.5% indirect equity interest in ATAS and maintain its operational initiative in ATAS as one of the key shareholders.
Eurasia Tunnel is a large-scale overseas infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) project carried out as a Turkish national project. Eurasia Tunnel stretches 5.4 km under the Bosphorus Strait in Istanbul and is the world’s first double-deck undersea tunnel. SK ecoplant undertook the construction together with Yapi Merkezi, a Turkish infrastructure construction and services company. Eurasia Tunnel began operations in December 2016 and has helped reduce traffic congestion and thus carbon emissions in Istanbul.
Mr. Jung-Sik Cho, Head of Eco Solution Business Unit of SK ecoplant, said, "Construction companies have the advantage of being able to secure not only short-term construction profits but also long-term investment returns through financing and equity participation in PPP projects. Since its foray into the overseas infrastructure PPP market with Eurasia Tunnel, SK ecoplant has secured further projects in Turkey, the UK, Norway, and Kazakhstan.” He also added “In a first for a Korean construction company, we are partnering with an international investor through a partial sale of the matured infrastructure PPP asset. We intend to maintain a long-term partnership with QIA and seek out opportunities to collaborate in various fields such as infrastructure and eco-friendly businesses."
About Eurasia Tunnel
Eurasia Tunnel is a motorway that connects under the Bosphorus Strait the Asian and European sides of Istanbul, Turkey. Eurasia Tunnel, including the tunnel approach roads between Sarayburnu-Kazlıçeşme and Harem-Göztepe, covers a total route length of 14.6 kilometers, of which 5.4 kilometers consist of a twin-deck tunnel built under the seafloor. Eurasia Tunnel has been developed by Avrasya Tüneli İşletme İnşaat ve Yatırım A.Ş. (ATAS) as a Build-Operate-Transfer project with a concession agreement ending in January 2042. Eurasia Tunnel was opened for traffic in December 2016.