15th Jun 2006 07:06
Balfour Beatty PLC15 June 2006 15 June 2006 CONSORT HEALTHCARE REACHES FINANCIAL CLOSE ON ============================================= £553 MILLION UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL BIRMINGHAM PFI =============================================== Balfour Beatty, the international engineering construction and services groupannounces today that its PPP/PFI healthcare vehicle, Consort Healthcare, hasreached financial close for the PFI contract to design, construct, finance,maintain and manage the lifecycle replacement of the new £553 million BirminghamAcute and Adult Psychiatric Hospitals for the University Hospital Birmingham NHSFoundation Trust and the Birmingham and Solihull Mental Health NHS Trust. Highlights: - The concession is for 35 years following completion of the five-year,two-month construction period, and will deliver the first new general hospitalin Birmingham for 70 years; - Balfour Beatty is contributing £23 million of equity to the project; - financial close on University Hospital Birmingham reinforces Balfour Beatty'sleading position in the UK PPP healthcare market - Consort Healthcare iscurrently the PPP concession company for five major hospitals; - Balfour Beatty is a leader in the UK PPP market with approaching £300 millioninvested in 22 projects in the healthcare, education, roads/street lighting andother infrastructure sectors. The project comprises a new acute hospital with capacity of 1,213 beds, a108-bed specialist psychiatric hospital and teaching facility and a separate 32bedded mental health local facility in Sparkbrook. It is central to thereconfiguration of hospital services and the improvement of clinical facilitiesin Birmingham. The mental health facilities will open in 2008 and the first phase of the mainacute hospital will open in 2010. The remainder of the new build acutefacilities are scheduled to come on stream in 2011. Balfour Beatty's partnersfor the scheme are Royal Bank of Scotland and HSBC. Commenting today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Ian Tyler said: "We are delighted to reach financial close on this very substantial projectwhich will relocate most of South Birmingham's key medical facilities to asingle, state-of-the-art site and address the Trust's ambitions for greaterefficiency, more space and improved patient care. Balfour Beatty brings many decades of experience in the healthcare sector andthe benefits of its market-leading expertise in planning, constructing andoperating large PPP hospitals to this very important project." The construction work, which has been underway for some time, is being carriedout by a joint venture between Balfour Beatty Construction and Haden Young, thebuilding services arm of the Balfour Beatty Group. Facilities management will beprovided by Haden Building Management, another Balfour Beatty subsidiary, underan arrangement that could yield £300 million of long-term service revenue overthe life of the concession. Balfour Beatty is the leader in the UK PPP healthcare market. Consort Healthcarehas five other PPP healthcare concessions. These are the North Durham Hospital,which was opened in 2001, and the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, which became fullyoperational in early 2003. The new Blackburn Hospital is due to open fully inJuly 2006. Consort Healthcare is preferred bidder for the Pinderfields and PontefractHospitals in Yorkshire and the Northern Batched Hospitals scheme in Manchester,which will have a combined capital value of some £440 million. Balfour Beatty isalso a partner in Health Management Group, the concession company responsiblefor the new University College London Hospital, the first phase of which openedin 2005. These schemes represent a committed equity investment of £112 million. Balfour Beatty Construction and Haden Young are also active on PPP hospitals inwhich other parties hold the concession. These include construction for the £160million new Victoria and Stobhill Hospitals scheme in Glasgow and electrical andmechanical services for Hereford County Hospital, Kings College London Hospitaland the Queens Medical Centre, Nottingham. ENDS Enquiries to:Tim SharpTel: 020 7216 6884www.balfourbeatty.com Notes to Editors 1. Balfour Beatty is a leader in the UK PPP market with approaching £300 millioninvested in 22 projects and a team of approaching 200 dedicated professionals inits specialist management company Balfour Beatty Capital. 2. In addition to its strong position in healthcare, Balfour Beatty is a leaderin education (five projects, equity invested £30 million), roads and streetlighting (six projects, £61 million invested) and in other infrastructure (fourprojects, £80 million invested). 3. Balfour Beatty is a world-class engineering, construction and services group,well positioned in infrastructure markets which offer significant growthpotential. Its partnerships with public and private customers generate secure,sustainable income. Its financial position, with significant net cash and withstrong operating cash flows, offers continuing flexibility to add additionalcapacity and expertise to the business mix and to make appropriate investmentsin PPP and other long-term growth opportunities. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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