Notice to the Market – Signing of the EcoRioMinas Concession Agreement
ECORODOVIAS INFRAESTRUTURA E LOGÍSTICA S.A. (“Company” or “Ecorodovias”) and its direct subsidiary ECORODOVIAS CONCESSÕES E SERVIÇOS S.A. (“ECS”) continuing the Material Fact disclosed on May 20, 2022, hereby announce that its indirect subsidiary ECORIOMINAS CONCESSIONÁRIA DE RODOVIAS S.A. (“EcoRioMinas” or “Concessionaire”) and Brazil’s National Land Transportation Agency (“ANTT”) signed a Concession Agreement (“Concession Agreement”) to operate for 30 years, after the signing of the Instrument of Listing and Transfer of Assets (“Date of Assumption”), of the BR-116/465/493/RJ/MG highway, including the Metropolitan Arch of Rio de Janeiro and the Serra de Teresópolis stretch, spanning 726.9 km.
According to the Concession Agreement, expansion works include 303 km of two-lane stretches, 255 km of additional lanes, construction of three escape ramps in Serra de Teresópolis, as well as 85 km of frontage roads, 57 wildlife crossings, 75 footbridges and 462 bus stops. The main highway expansion works will be concluded between the 4th and 8th years of the concession.
Operational services at EcoRioMinas are scheduled to begin in September 2022 on the stretch earlier granted to CRT. Starting from March 2023, the Concessionaire will start providing medical and mechanical assistance using a specialized team and a fleet of 29 ambulances and 19 tow trucks exclusively for the stretch. In all, more than 76 operational vehicles will be available at the 18 operational bases located over the entire stretch. An Operational Control Center, which operates round-the-clock, will monitor the highway. The concessionaire will also adopt the International Road Assessment Program (iRap) methodology, a modern road safety program focused on reducing accidents and the risk of fatalities on highways.
EcoRioMinas generates EBITDA since the start of the concession, improves the Company’s leverage in the short and medium terms and lengthens the duration of the portfolio to 22 years.
The concession agreement has important innovations aligned with ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) best practices, notably: (A) Environmental: the implementation of the Zero Carbon Program to neutralize greenhouse gas emissions from the operations of the future highway concessionaire and the implementation of a toll collection system without physical barriers (free flow) on a stretch of the concession to improve traffic and reduce pollution; (B) Social: implementation of a highway user safety program focused on reducing accidents and fatalities on highways, construction of three escape ramps on the Serra de Teresópolis stretch, implementation of a connectivity system throughout the concession stretch for communication between users and customer service, construction of two rest areas for truck drivers, and regional development through an estimated generation of over 154,000 jobs (direct, indirect and income effect); and (C) Governance: concession agreement with clauses on mechanisms for settling disputes: amicable resolution of conflicts, arbitration, dispute board, compliance with the Performance Standards of the International Finance Corporation, greater transparency in related-party transactions and the requirement that the concessionaire be listed as a publicly-held company, registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Brazil within two years from the Date of Assumption.
The signing of the Concession Agreement by EcoRioMinas is consistent with Ecorodovias’ strategy of focusing on highway concession assets and lengthening the duration of its portfolio, with the focus on maximizing the return on invested capital and financial discipline. This new Concession Agreement increases the kilometrage of highways managed to more than 4,000 km, making Ecorodovias the largest operator of highway assets in Brazil in terms of length, and underlines the Company’s commitment to the sustainable growth of Brazilian infrastructure.
Ecorodovias reaffirms its commitment to its obligations as a publicly held company listed on the Novo Mercado segment of B3, and will disclose all and any material information in accordance with applicable laws.
São Paulo, August 19, 2022.
Marcello Guidotti
CEO and Investor Relations Officer
Ecorodovias Infraestrutura e Logística S.A.
+55 (11) 3787 2683/2612/2674/2686
invest@ecorodovias.com.br
http://www.ecorodovias.com.br/ri
Hugo Rafael Mitz
Investor Relations Officer
Ecorodovias Concessões e Serviços S.A.
To access the Notice to the Market, click here.