South Korean builders SK Engineering & Construction and Daelim Industrial said Tuesday they won the Project Finance Deal of the Year award for securing a $3 billion construction deal in Turkey. 

The two companies clinched the deal as preferred bidders in 2017 through a four-way consortium comprising SK E&C, Daelim and two Turkish builders, Limak and Yapi Merkezi. 

Dubbed the Turkey Canakkale project, it involves building a 3.7 kilometer-long suspension bridge in Turkey, the longest in the world, across the Dardanelles Strait in Cankkale Province. SK E&C and Daelim will construct and operate the bridge for 16 years and two months. 

The Project Finance Deal of the Year award is presented by global finance media outlets, including Project Finance International and Infrastructure Journal Global. The two companies also received 10 other finance awards in the first half of the year, including Turkish Deal of the Year.

In March last year, the two firms managed to receive about $2.5 billion in project financing, which involved 25 finance institutes from 10 countries -- including the Export-Import Bank of Korea, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Turkey’s Garanti Bankasi -- as creditors. 

“It is an honor for us to receive awards globally. It was all possible thanks to collaborative efforts of the two builders and active export finance support around the world,” said officials.

By Kim Da-sol (ddd@heraldcorp.com)