VLI, a logistics company that operates ports, railways, and terminals, has completed two debenture issuance processes, raising a total of R$2 billion for works on the Centro-Atlântica Railway and the Luiz Antonio Mesquita Port Integration Terminal, known as Tiplam, located in Baixada Santista.

“We have good access to credit. We recently issued R$2 billion in debt,” says Fábio Marchiori, CEO of the company, in an exclusive interview with EXAME, in November.

This was the most significant amount of funds raised through debentures ever by the company, whose investors include Brookfield, Vale, FGTS, Mitsui and BNDES Participações.

The funds were settled this month, coordinated by Itaú, Bradesco, Santander, and BTG banks (all from the same controlling group as EXAME).

Marchiori says that the new amount will be used to modernize rolling stock, railways, ports, and new company structures.

“The company's revenue is around R$10 billion per year. In other words, in two years, we earned around R$20 billion and invested R$6 billion,” he says.

The company's president says the model is to identify bottlenecks and remove them as they arise.

“It's like driving and solving traffic jams: you solve one, and the problem moves on,” says the CEO.

How the R$ 2 billion will be directed by VLI

In the Centro-Atlântica railway, the resources are to be used, among other areas, for maintenance and improvement of the permanent track, with the exchange of rails and railroad ties, which will allow for a higher average circling speed for trains.

To this end, VLI has already ordered around 9,000 tons of rails, totaling around 230 kilometers in length.

Repair work will also be carried out, and new guardrails will be installed on bridges and pedestrian crossings.

At Tiplam, the funds will be used to reinforce and renovate the port's mobile and fixed structures, such as warehouses, loaders, and conveyor belts.

In addition, improvements will be made to the berths, increasing the safety of vessels during the loading process in more severe weather conditions.

Tiplam is the hub for import and export flows in VLI's Southeast Corridor, which transports cargo such as sugar, grains, and fertilizers from states such as Minas Gerais, São Paulo, and Goiás via the Centro-Atlântica Railway.