EUR715 million financial close for medical research centre in Ankara
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CCN Yatırım Holding Anonim Şirketi has achieved financial close of its contract to finance the design, construction, operation and maintenance of a medical research centre in Ankara. CCN Yatırım Holding Anonim Şirketi was awarded an 18-year concession by the Ministry of Health of Turkey through its special purpose vehicle CCN Laboratuvar Hizmetleri ve Yönetim Anonim Şirketi, Turkey (CCN Laboratuvar). The estimated value of the project is EUR715 million (US$858 million).
The medical research centre will be the first of its kind in Turkey, supporting research activities and providing access to high-tech laboratories. The centre will contain biosafety level laboratories, research units, the offices of the Turkish Public Health Agency and Turkish Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency, social and technical facilities.
CCN Laboratuvar will also provide some non-clinical services in the centre. It will supply and maintain the four research laboratories, while the research services will be provided by the Ministry of Health.
The 15-year debt financing package was arranged by the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank (BSTDB), the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the Islamic Development Bank (IDB).
BSTDB provided a direct EUR30 million (US$36 million) A-loan facility and arranged a EUR20 million (US$24 million) B-loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development (OFID). It also arranged parallel loans from the Austrian Development Bank and the ECO Trade and Development Bank of EUR30 million (US$36 million) and EUR15 million (US$18 million) respectively.
The project marks BSTDB’s first A/B loan arrangement.
The centre will contribute significantly to research capability in Turkey and provide a modern work environment both for the researchers and personnel of the Turkish Public Health Agency and the Turkish Pharmaceutical and Medical Devices Agency. It is believed to be the first laboratory project financed under a PPP scheme.
This project is part of the government of Turkey's drive to increase private sector participation in the healthcare sector. A significant feature of this is the Health PPP Program, which was launched in 2010. The aim of the program is to improve service delivery and outcomes through a realigned public hospital network serving the nearly 90% of the population that is covered to varying degrees by social health insurance. It consists of 50 projects with an estimated EUR20 billion (US$24 billion) investment value.
Last year alone, three healthcare PPPs in Turkey achieved financial close:
Also, the Yozgat Education and Research Hospital was opened, making it the first hospital in the program to become operational.
