Halmar on its Fully Integrated Approach to the US P3 Market
Alessandro Rivano joins as Chief Financial Officer for Halmar International (Halmar) from Salini Impregilo - Lane Construction, further boosting ASTM’s North American plans for delivering complex Design-Build projects in the transportation sector, as well as the pursuit of P3s with Itinera Infrastructure & Concessions (Itinera).
Mr. Rivano brings international corporate and project finance, as well as M&A experience across multiple markets to Halmar International. He joined last year to advance operational controls and financial reporting techniques as Halmar expands nationally.
“We believe this is the most attractive market globally from a risk/return ratio perspective. Even with other contractors pulling out of the P3 business, we see this market as a lucrative one. It yields high returns and low base risk. I have worked in the Latin American market, where the expected returns are similar, but the base risks are generally much higher. The US P3 market is attractive to us because, even with a very different set of risks, there are long-term substantial sources of cheaper financing for greenfield opportunities through programs like TIFIA and PABs which provide flexible solutions during the high-risk period; construction ramp-up. We have come into this market with our eyes wide-open. We are a fully integrated developer, with active participation by our American contractor – heeding the most recent lessons learned in this market where many Developers previously looked to push much of the risk down to the construction joint-venture. This has now disincentivized many contractors from participating in the P3 market. For us, we are a truly integrated entity, sharing in the risks and the rewards.” Alessandro shared.
Mr. Rivano was the CFO of several concessions in energy and transportation in Brazil and Chile. Firstly, he was with Costanera Norte S.A. in Chile, the first multi-lane free-float urban toll road in Latin America (1999). Secondly, he was the CFO of Ponte de Pedra Energetica, a 180 MW power generation plant concession selling energy through a PPA to the market to finance the project. Later, he went on be the Country Manager and legal representative in Brazil in charge of the company’s operations before becoming Head of Project Finance globally for Salini-Impregilo in 2007. In this time, he was a Board Member of EcoRodovias from 2006 to 2012.
The Gavio Group have had co-controlling interest in EcoRodovias since 2015. Currently, EcoRodovias is the largest toll road operator in Brazil.
About Itinera & Halmar
Itinera Infrastructure and Concessions (“Itinera”) is the North American concession-arm of ASTM, a Nuova Argo Finanzaria company held by The Gavio Group (60%) and Ardian Fund (40%). ASTM is the second largest toll road operator in the world by road miles and $25B in assets under management across Italy, Brazil, and the UK. In 2017, Gavio Group acquired 50% of Halmar International and launched Itinera Infrastructure & Concessions last year to pursue large complex transportation P3s across the US and Canada. Halmar - a leading civil construction company based in New York – is expanding nationally.