Taking its toll

In a search for alternative sources of funding, Korea Highway Corporation has turned to the structured finance market, issuing the country’s first ABS transaction backed by toll road receivables. Sang-Jun Lee of Korea Highway’s asset finance department, talks about the rationale behind the deal. Nick Sawyer reports

Building a road takes a huge amount of investment, especially when the road in question is a much-needed expressway around South Korea’s capital, Seoul. For road construction company Korea Highway Corporation, this vast expenditure brings with it the prospect of a painfully slow return on its investment, even given the millions of won in toll fees the company stands to earn from drivers using the