Sorainen has advised FinEst Bay Area Development on signing a memorandum of understanding for EUR 15 billion in financing with China’s Touchstone Capital Partners for an undersea train tunnel linking Helsinki with Tallinn.
Under the memorandum, one-third of the funding will come as a private equity investment – giving Touchstone a minority stake in the project – and two-thirds will be debt financing.
According to Sorainen, FinEst Bay Area raised the first external funding of EUR 100 million from Dubai-based construction company ARJ Holding in December 2018, and it is seeking European investors to join.
On December 12, 2018 CEE Legal matters reported on Sorainen's appointment as legal advisor for the FinEst Bay Area Development tunnel project.
According to Sorainen, Finland and Estonia have considered linking their capitals – which are divided by the Gulf of Finland – for years. Tens of thousands of Estonians work in the Helsinki area, making the weekly commute by sea, while Tallinn is a popular tourist destination for Finns. A tunnel would cut the travel time to around 20 minutes from the current two-hour ride on a ferry.
The Sorainen team was led by Partner Paul Kunnap and Senior Associate Sandra Mikli.
Sorainen informed CEE Legal Matters that it was unable to disclose any additional information on the deal.
