20th May 2009 16:00
Connect Plus reaches Financial Close on £6.2 billion M25 DBFO
WS Atkins plc (Atkins), the UK's largest design and engineering consultancy, announces today that Connect Plus, a consortium comprising Atkins (10%), Balfour Beatty (40%), Skanska (40%), and Egis (10%), has reached financial close on the £6.2 billion Design Build Finance Operate (DBFO) contract to provide additional capacity and maintain the M25 motorway for the Highways Agency.
Keith Clarke, chief executive of Atkins said: "We are delighted Connect Plus has now reached financial close on this project which is the biggest single highways contract Atkins has ever won. It is critical to London's transport infrastructure and builds upon Atkins core design expertise employed recently on similar schemes such as the M1 widening programme, and the M74 expansion in Scotland.
"The network management, operations and maintenance services will call on our skills and expertise from more than 10 years of delivering similar services on behalf of the Highways Agency at other strategically important sections of the UK trunk road and motorway network."
Atkins will provide the design expertise for the 40 mile (63km) widening programme. This will see the M25 expanded to four lanes between the M40 and A1, and the M11 to the A13 at Thurrock. As part of the project Atkins will also be providing engineering advice on the A1(M) Hatfield Tunnel refurbishment, specifying vital safety systems like fire & smoke detection, ventilation, and traffic control. The work will be completed in time for the London 2012 Games.
As part of the Operation and Maintenance (O&M) joint venture with Balfour Beatty (52.5%) and Egis (15%), Atkins (32.5%) will provide services in network management, asset inspection, traffic management, tunnel operations, incident management, routine and winter maintenance for the entire M25. This covers a distance of 250 miles including a strategic network of feeder roads around London. Atkins will also be involved in the operation of the toll facilities at Dartford Crossing with the revenues being handed to the Highways Agency.
Atkins will invest some £20 million in equity in the Connect Plus Special Purpose Vehicle, which is for a term of 30 years.
The total amount of project funding is £1.3 billion, comprising of £925 million of senior debt provided by 16 commercial banks. There's also a separate £185 million facility from the European Investment Bank, and £200 million provided by the shareholders of Connect Plus.
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Sara Lipscombe Group Communications Director Andy Winstanley Head of Media Relations |
+44 (0)1372 726140 / +44 (0)7834 507277 +44 (0)1372 752018 / +44 (0)7803 259643 |
Notes to editors:
Atkins (www.atkinsglobal.com) is a multinational engineering and design consultancy, providing expertise to help resolve complex challenges presented by the built and natural environment. Atkins is the largest multidisciplinary consultancy in Europe, the largest engineering consultancy in both the UK and the Middle East, and the UK's second largest architecture firm.
Recent projects include:
Major infrastructure works, such as the design and programme management of the civil works for the Dubai Metro red and green lines;
High profile transport planning and urban design - a scheme to deliver a diagonal crossing at London's Oxford Circus will help solve the problem of pedestrian crowding;
Key rail projects - helping improve train times on the West Coast Main Line through the design, installation, testing and commissioning of new signalling at Rugby and Nuneaton;
Multidisciplinary building design - North Road Primary School in Darlington is an exemplar project which raises standards for environmental design and community engagement;
Vital water and environmental projects - as part of a joint venture, Atkins is providing technical assistance to the Water Supply and Sanitation Sector Reform Programme in Nigeria, which will benefit up to three million people.
Atkins was named among the 20 Best Big Companies to Work For 2009 by The Sunday Times; The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers 2008; and The Times Top 50 Companies Where Women Want to Work 2008. The company was construction sector winner for the third consecutive year in the Target National Graduate Recruitment Awards 2008.
Atkins is the official engineering design services provider for the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Related Shares:
ATK.LBalfour Beatty