Project Finance magazine (Euromoney group) has announced the winners of the "Deal of the Year 2007" awards for the world's main project finance deals in different categories.

In the "Latin American PPP Deal of the Year 2007" category, the award went to the financing deal for the Autopista del Sol concession company to build the toll highway joining the cities of Caldera and San Jose in Costa Rica; Autopista del Sol is owned 48% by Globalvía (a subsidiary of FCC Construcción and Caja Madrid), 35% by Itinere Infraestructuras (the infrastructure subsidiary of Grupo Sacyr Vallehermoso) and 17% by Soares da Costa.

The main reasons for this award are that it is the first PPP highway concession in Costa Rica and the challenge of financing it.

The highway, costing a total of 330 million dollars, will be 76.8 kilometres long, joining the cities of San José and Caldera. The concession period is 25 years. The Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI) and Caja Madrid, with the assistance of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA, part of the World Bank), lead-managed the 20-year, 247 million dollar syndicated loan.

The awards will be officially presented on 6 March in New York.