...SAO PAULO (S&P Global Ratings) March 29, 2019--S&P Global Ratings said today that Rumo S.A.'s (##-/Stable/B) win of the concession auction yesterday for the Norte-Sul railway will support the company's long-term growth strategy. Rumo bid R$2.7 billion to build and operate the 1,500-kilometer railway for the next 30 years. Norte-Sul will primarily be used to transport agricultural commodities, connecting the center of the country with Rumo's Malha Paulista line to ports on the coast. We expect the concession to start operating in about two years. Given its location and connection to Malha Paulista, Norte-Sul will allow the company to increase transported volumes and produce synergies, improving the operating efficiency with no significant execution risks. Given the additional debt to fund the R$2.7 billion concession bid to be paid in the next 30 years, we expect Rumo's leverage to increase in 2019 slightly, without impacting the ratings. We expect net debt to EBITDA to rise to about 3.5x...
