13th Jul 2005 07:00
Balfour Beatty PLC13 July 2005 13 July 2005 BALFOUR BEATTY REACHES FINANCIAL CLOSE ON ========================================== £127 MILLION BASSETLAW GROUPED SCHOOLS PROJECT ============================================== Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,announces today that its education PFI concession company, Transform Schools,has reached financial close for the 25-year, £127 million Bassetlaw GroupedSchools PFI concession for Nottinghamshire County Council. The project will involve four new secondary schools, a new special school andtwo new centres for post-16 education in Retford and Worksop and a new secondaryschool in Tuxford. It will also create two new leisure centres for BassetlawDistrict Council. Phased completion of the new facilities is scheduled for 2006and 2007. Balfour Beatty will invest some £7 million of equity in the project. Commenting on the award, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive, Ian Tyler, said: "We are delighted to be able to proceed in providing new facilities in Bassetlawand to support Nottinghamshire County Council's objective of giving pupils andteachers an enhanced environment where learning can flourish. The new facilitieswill bring benefits to the schools and their wider communities. Our objective isto bring the same level of professionalism and service to this task as the workwe are carrying out in our Stoke, Rotherham and North Lanarkshire Schools PFIs." The key objectives for Nottinghamshire County Council are the replacement ofdeteriorating and unsuitable accommodation, the improvement of educationalattainment and post-16 staying-on rates and improved community facilities. Construction work will be carried out by a joint venture of Balfour Beattysubsidiaries, Balfour Beatty Construction and Balfour Kilpatrick. Facilitiesmanagement, to a value in excess of £100 million, will be undertaken by HadenBuilding Management, another Balfour Beatty subsidiary. This will includemaintenance, catering, cleaning and grounds maintenance. This is Balfour Beatty's fourth major schools PFI project through TransformSchools, in partnership with its joint investor, Innisfree Ltd. Its projects atStoke and Rotherham are proceeding very successfully, while financial close onthe project for North Lanarkshire Council was achieved last month. In the recent 2005 Public Private Finance Awards, Transform Schools' Rotherhamconcession won the "Best Community/User Involvement in a Project" Award for itsachievements through consultation with the project's key stakeholder groups,including school managers, governors and prospective users. Transform Schools won both Best Operational Education Project and the overalltop prize of Best Operational Partnership (All Sectors) at the 2004 PublicPrivate Finance Awards. The company won for its 25-year Stoke Schoolsconcession, under which nine new schools were contracted to be built, 98refurbished and full responsibility taken for maintenance and whole-life care ofthe whole stock of 122 schools. The scheme has now grown to accommodate 13 newschools and numerous new extensions. ENDS Enquiries to:Tim SharpTel: 020 7216 6884www.balfourbeatty.com Notes to Editors 1. In addition to Stoke, Balfour Beatty's other schools PFI projects are: - for the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham (10 new schools and five refurbished schools plus energy management, repairs and maintenance, caretaking, cleaning and catering - in a 30-year concession worth £100 million in construction and £40 million in long-term services) - for North Lanarkshire Council (24 new schools in a 30-year concession worth £140 million in construction and up to £100 million in long-term services). - for Birmingham City Council, Transform is preferred bidder on a scheme worth £56 million which will provide 12 new and refurbished schools. 2. Balfour Beatty is carrying out all design and construction work for schoolsin East Lothian in a contract worth some £40 million under the PPP concessionfor that council. 3. Balfour Beatty is providing all design and build services for Babcock andBrown in its schools PFI projects. Work secured under this arrangement to dateexceeds £80 million, including the construction of five new schools inCalderdale, West Yorkshire. 4. Balfour Beatty is one of two construction partners to Manchester City Councilin its "Building Schools for the Future" programme in a 3-5 year contract likelyto be worth up to £80 million. The work will involve substantial redevelopmentof Manchester's secondary school stock. 5. 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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