Mundys grows in Chile. New route for Costanera: investing 700 million

Mundys, the infrastructure holding company controlled by Edizione of the Benetton family and participated by Blackstone and Fondazione Crt, won the third tender in less than a year in Chile and thus increased the network under management in the area to 1,300 kilometres. This is enough to guarantee an ebitda of more than EUR 1 billion.

This is the outcome of the latest award, in chronological order, announced by the group led by Andrea Mangoni, which has made it possible to put an additional 126 kilometres of motorway into the portfolio. In particular, this is the road connecting the island of Chiloé with the mainland. An asset that will require 700 million in investments over the next seven years to develop the route, improve its connectivity and safety, and give further sustainable impetus to the region.

The infrastructure was secured by the subsidiary Grupo Costanera, which has CPPIB as its second shareholder. The route is the one connecting Chacao with Chonchi and is part of Ruta 5. The success is the result of a bid that responds to a particularly virtuous mechanism of awarding concessions in Chile. According to the innovative system devised by the country, in fact, the winner is normally the one who presents the lowest revenue proposal, given the maximum concession period considered (50 years). This is because if the winning company then realises this revenue in less time, the contract ends earlier than expected. In this way Chile expects to be able to engage more efficient concessionaires and to be able to take possession of the routes earlier but with the network still improved and the investments realised.

It is therefore on the basis of this system that Costanera secured these new 126 kilometres of motorway after the award of the Santiago-Los Vilos asset in August 2024, through ViasChile (Abertis), and the Ruta 5 Temuco-Rio Bueno section in March 2025, through Grupo Costanera. The concession for the new section was awarded with a maximum service life of 50 years. The Chacao-Chonchi section is part of Ruta 5, the backbone of Chile, and is located on the island of Chiloé, in the region of Los Lagos, and passes through the towns of Chacao, Castro and Chonchi, uniting the island with the rest of the continent thanks to the completion of the Chacao infrastructure link, which will be built by Grupo Costanera by 2028. The project supports local economic development (fishing and aquaculture) and tourism, which are the main drivers of the island's economy. Chiloé is in fact one of the country's most popular tourist destinations, known for its natural landscapes, UNESCO World Heritage-listed wooden churches and the indigenous Huilliche community and culture.

Costanera will take over the management of the infrastructure in the second half of 2025 and will invest, as mentioned, more than 700 million over seven years. All this in a framework that, from a financial point of view, seems to be guaranteed by the recent fundraising. Through Costanera Norte, the group has in fact placed two bond issues, to 2030 and 2038, for a total of around EUR 420 million. Demand for both bonds exceeded supply by 1.7 times and 2 times, respectively.