18th Oct 2006 07:00
Balfour Beatty PLC18 October 2006 18 October 2006 BALFOUR BEATTY CONSORTIUM APPOINTED =================================== PREFERRED BIDDER FOR EXETER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT ================================================= Regional and City Airports Bid Values Exeter International Airport ------------------------------------------------------------------ at £60 million -------------- Balfour Beatty, the international engineering, construction and services group,announces today that its consortium company, Regional and City Airports (RCA)has been appointed preferred bidder to acquire Exeter and Devon Airport Ltd.,which owns and operates Exeter International Airport. The total considerationfor the acquisition will be £60 million. RCA is a joint venture between BalfourBeatty Capital, the group's investment arm, and London City Airport. Commenting on the appointment today, Balfour Beatty Chief Executive Ian Tylersaid: "We are delighted to have been selected by Devon County Council as preferredbidder to acquire Exeter International Airport. Our vision is that Exeter shouldbecome the Airport of choice for the South West Region, based on the efficiencyand quality of its operations. We have extensive experience of creating andoperating successful infrastructure assets in the UK through the PPP process. Weare also highly experienced as an airport infrastructure developer and areconfident in accelerating the growth of the airport in years to come." The acquisition will be financed through equity of £30 million, with BalfourBeatty as the leading investor. The remainder of the consideration will besatisfied by borrowings, with HSBC as financial adviser and lead arranger.London City Airport will be responsible for the operational management of theairport. The airport has a strong recent growth record and traffic and passenger growthis forecast to continue, helped by its status as an important base for Flybe.Exeter International Airport enjoys a strong local economy, a high propensity tofly and has significant opportunity to increase both its regional market shareand its local penetration. The airport will be substantially redeveloped withnew terminal facilities, new aircraft stands and in the longer term, furtherterminal capacity, stand and taxiway development. Balfour Beatty Capital is an experienced investor, having raised over £7 billionof funding for its 23 privately financed UK infrastructure projects in which ithas approaching £300 million of committed equity. Balfour Beatty also has asuccessful track record in airport infrastructure development. Its professionaland technical services arm has played a key role in the development programmesat Heathrow, Gatwick and the BAA Scottish Airports. Its construction andservices subsidiaries have undertaken major airport projects at Heathrow,Gatwick, Stansted, Glasgow, Edinburgh, Hong Kong, Dubai and Miami. In separate recent developments, a Balfour Beatty joint venture has beenshort-listed to bid for two major new privately-financed infrastructureprospects. In the UK, its joint venture Connect Plus, is one of threeshort-listed to bid for the Design, Build, Finance, Operate concession to widenand maintain the M25 Motorway, over a 30-year period in a contract valued inexcess of £5 billion. In California the Balfour Beatty consortium, bbm AIRail Transfer has beenshort-listed to bid for the Oakland Airport Connector project which will providea new rail connection between the Airport and the Bay Area Regional transportsystem. ENDS Enquiries to:- Tim SharpTel: 020 7216 6884www.balfour.beatty.com Notes to Editors 1. Balfour Beatty has a substantial existing investment portfolio, largely through the UK PPP/PFI programme. This portfolio consists of:- - seven major hospitals- five major schools schemes- five road and two street lighting projects- two concessions under the London Underground PPP- the London Underground power system- a waste water scheme- Barking Power Station ( non-PPP)- Devonport Dockyard (non-PPP) 2. Balfour Beatty Capital develops, owns and operates privately financedinfrastructure projects. It is one of the largest UK private sectorinfrastructure investors and has a broad range of skills from project promotionand development through to financing, project execution and long-term assetmanagement and operations. 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,long-term 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. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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