FDN, J.P. Morgan and MUFG Close $1.2 Trillion COP Loan to Widen Bogotá’s Autopista Norte

Financing Clears Bogotá’s Autopista Norte Expansion for Construction

The concessionaire behind Accesos Norte Fase II has closed a $1.2 trillion COP loan that clears the way for construction on the Autopista Norte and Carrera Séptima in northern Bogotá and on the perimeter road at Sopó, according to Semana and La República. The lenders are Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN); J.P. Morgan Securities PLC, a unit of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM); and MUFG Bank, the banking arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (TSE: 8306; NAG: 8306; NYSE: MUFG). The deal closed on September 10, 2026, according to Holland & Knight, which represented the three lenders.

Concesionaria Ruta Bogotá Norte S.A.S. holds the fifth-generation (5G) road concession, which was structured as a private-initiative (iniciativa privada) public-private partnership. A fund managed by Ashmore Colombia, part of Ashmore Group (LSE: ASHM), holds 50% after an investment the firm completed in July 2023. Colombian infrastructure and industrial group Grupo Ethuss holds 25%, and Spanish construction group OHLA (BME: OHLA) holds the remaining 25%, La República reported. Construction is split equally between Única, Grupo Ethuss’s construction company, and OHLA Construcciones.

The Accesos Norte Fase II corridor in northern Bogotá. (Photo courtesy OHLA)

How the Debt Is Structured

FDN, a member of the government-linked financial holding company Grupo Bicentenario, will provide 50% of the funds, with J.P. Morgan and MUFG supplying the international portion under what La República described as a synthetic credit structure. Holland & Knight said in a September 25 announcement that the financing was structured in two debt tranches.

Holland & Knight’s announcement gives a larger figure than the $1.2 trillion COP loan amount reported elsewhere: $1.48 trillion COP, or about $480 million USD. The firm’s headline calls that figure the financing, while its text calls it the estimated investment total. Cuatrecasas, which advised the concessionaire and its shareholders, reported a $1.2 trillion COP syndicated financing. OHLA’s own announcement valued the financing at about €325 million EUR and put the total investment in the concession at about €900 million EUR.

The loan is backed by collections from Accenorte‘s existing tolls, and no new toll booths are planned on the corridor, according to La República. OHLA said that Moody’s Ratings, part of Moody’s Corporation (NYSE: MCO), gave the project’s sustainable financing framework an SQS2 (Very Good) Sustainability Quality Score in December 2025.

Sandra Vélez, CEO of Grupo Ethuss, said in remarks reported by La República that clearing the environmental requirements and having the funds actually disbursed allow the concessionaire to move ahead with a project she described as vital to Bogotá’s mobility.

“The financial close of Accesos Norte Fase II demonstrates the confidence of international and local banks in the capability of Colombian engineering.”

— Sandra Vélez, CEO, Grupo Ethuss

What Gets Built

The concession covers 17.96 kilometers divided into eight functional units, according to the concessionaire. On a 5.83-kilometer stretch of the Autopista Norte, it will improve the three existing lanes and widen both carriageways to five and six lanes, including an exclusive bus rapid transit lane for TransMilenio with extra lanes at stations. Cuatrecasas described the Autopista Norte works as running between Calle 191 and Calle 245.

On Carrera Séptima, the concessionaire will improve the existing roadway and build a new two-lane carriageway over 4.93 kilometers. The Sopó perimeter road will get 5.5 kilometers of improvements to the existing bypass and 1.7 kilometers of new two-way roadway. The scope also includes a 6-meter-wide strip of bicycle path and sidewalk along the Autopista Norte and Carrera Séptima, studies and designs for a grade-separated interchange at Calle 201 (Avenida Polo), and the design and construction of two U-turns at Calle 224 and Calle 235. The concessionaire’s timeline sets an 18-month pre-construction phase and a 66-month construction phase, with operation and maintenance running to year 29 from the contract’s start.

A 2022 IDU map of the Accesos Norte Fase II works, labeled in Spanish: the Autopista Norte widening (yellow), the second carriageway on Carrera Séptima (pink) and the Sopó perimeter road (purple). (Map courtesy IDU)

A Long Road to Financial Close

The Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (National Infrastructure Agency, ANI) awarded the concession in March 2022 to the Estructura Plural Ruta Bogotá Norte consortium, then held in equal parts by OHLA’s Colombian branch and Termotécnica Coindustrial, a Grupo Ethuss company. The Alcaldía de Bogotá (Bogotá Mayor’s Office) said at the time that the project was part of an agreement between the ANI and the Instituto de Desarrollo Urbano (Urban Development Institute, IDU), with an estimated construction investment of $1.3 trillion COP in December 2021 pesos.

A first financial close of $700 billion COP with FDN followed in May 2024, Forbes Colombia reported, putting total project investment at $2.34 trillion COP in December 2023 pesos. None of the reports on the September 2026 close say how that earlier facility relates to the new loan.

The Autoridad Nacional de Licencias Ambientales (National Environmental Licensing Authority, ANLA) archived the concessionaire’s first application in January 2024 over technical shortcomings in hydrological and ecosystem connectivity with the Torca and Guaymaral wetlands, which are recognized as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention, El Espectador reported. The agency confirmed that decision in May 2024. The concessionaire filed a new environmental impact study in 2025, and the ANLA granted the license in January 2026 with obligations to protect the wetlands. La República reported that the September close took effect after the ANLA verified compliance with those environmental conditions.

FDN also participated in the Buga–Buenaventura highway financing in 2025, and the development bank has lent to energy projects such as the El Campano solar project in Córdoba.

At Holland & Knight, partner María Juliana Saa (above center) led the representation of FDN, J.P. Morgan and MUFG, supported by associate Juan Felipe Alonso (above left) and law clerk Santiago Osorio (above right). Cuatrecasas’ team was led by Manuel Quinche, managing partner of its Bogotá office, and finance partner Natalia Arango, and the firm also advised TMF Colombia as local security agent and calculation agent for the financing.

Headline photo: The Accesos Norte Fase II corridor in northern Bogotá. (Photo courtesy OHLA)