Alberta Schools Acquisition

RNS Number : 4031D

Babcock&Brown Public Ptnrships Ltd

15 September 2008

 



15 September 2008 

Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Awarded Alberta Schools Concession

Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Limited (LSE: BBPP) (‘BBPP’ or the ‘Company’), the international public infrastructure fund, today announced that it has been awarded a 32 year contract for the provision of 18 new schools in Edmonton and Calgary, Canada.

Alberta Schools is BBPP's second Canadian 'P3' (Public Private Partnership) project and was commissioned by the Alberta Government through Alberta Infrastructure. The contract is for the design, construction, finance and maintenance of 9 schools in Edmonton and 9 schools in Calgary. The schools are scheduled to complete construction in July 2010. The concession period is 32 years, including a 22 month construction period. 

BBPP is investing 75% of the equity, with Gvest, an affiliate of Graham Construction, providing the remaining 25%. Graham Construction and Bird Construction are the two contractors to the project. Construction will be undertaken under a typical fixed-price, fixed-time contract. Honeywell will provide the facilities management and maintenance services for the period of the concession.

Giles Frost, Director of BBPP, said 'This is an excellent investment in what is Canada's largest Kindergarten to Grade 9 (K-9) schools project to date. The project has a traditional PPP structure and offers strong and long term cashflows, has debt terms matched to the concession length and fully hedged interest rates. BBPP is investing approximately CAD$28m (£15m).  This transaction demonstrates the continued international growth of the PPP market.'

'I am also pleased to announce that BBPP has now become a constituent of the FTSE 250.'

For further information, please contact:

Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships            [phone]

Investors     Bianca Francis

Media          Anthony Kennaway         

 

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