Investment Acquisition and C

RNS Number : 3931X

Babcock&Brown Public Ptnrships Ltd

24 June 2008

 



ACQUISITION OF ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF C SHARE INVESTMENT AND CONVERSION

The New Royal Childrens' Hospital

Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Limited ('BBPP' or 'the Company') today advised that it has agreed to acquire 100% of the ordinary equity interest in the new Royal Childrens' Hospital PPP Project in Melbourne, Australia for a consideration of approximately £44m.

The new Royal Childrens' Hospital project provides for the construction and operation of the new Royal Childrens' Hospital ('RCH'). The RCH is the major specialist paediatric hospital in the state of Victoria and also treats children from other states of Australia and south-east Asia.  Upon completion, the hospital will have an area of approximately 246,000 square metres and a total development value in the order of AUS$1.07 billion (£514 million)

1. The project will open in December 2011 with demolition of the current hospital and associated works to be completed by December 2014. The PPP concession for the project expires in December 2036. Construction of the new facility is being undertaken by Bovis Lend Lease under a fixed price contract. Construction commenced in December 2007 and is on schedule.

The Company has acquired this investment from Babcock & Brown who were responsible for the origination and development of the project. The Company has been working on this acquisition for a number of months.  The acquisition has been supported by independent valuation advice from PricewaterhouseCoopers.

The RCH investment provides yield during both its construction and operational periods and the Company anticipates this acquisition to be immediately accretive in both yield and IRR terms.  Management of this asset will be undertaken by the existing Australian-based staff who manage the Company's other Australian assets.

Giles Frost, on behalf of Babcock & Brown Investment Management Limited said 'We have been working on this significant transaction for some time. It is the biggest PPP project developed to date in the state of Victoria and, on completion, will be one of the world's foremost centres for paediatric care.  The project has a traditional PPP structure and can be expected to deliver additional strong and predictable long term returns for BBPP. It is also very pleasing that once again the Company has become substantially fully invested ahead of the timescale previously indicated to shareholders'.

The commitment to investment in the new Royal Childrens' Hospital project will trigger the conversion of the Company's C shares into Ordinary Shares.

C Share Conversion 

The Company is also pleased to announce that, following admission of the C Shares to the Official List and to the London Stock Exchange on 22 April 2008, in excess of 80 per cent. of the assets attributable to the C Shares have now been invested.  In accordance with the terms of the C Shares, the Directors have determined that the Calculation Time for the conversion of the C Shares into Ordinary Shares is 24 June 2008 and, therefore, the conversion will be made on the basis of the respective net asset values of the C Shares and Ordinary Shares as at the close of business on 24 June 2008.

The expected timetable for conversion is as follows:

Conversion Ratio announced	26 June 2008
Record date for Conversion and C Share register closes	26 June 2008 (close of business)
Conversion Time and dealings in New Shares commence	1 July 2008
Crediting of CREST accounts with New Shares	1 July 2008
Share certificates in respect of New Shares despatched	From Tuesday 1 July 2008

 Further details of the conversion and rights attaching to the C Shares are set out in the Company's prospectus in relation to the placing and offer for subscription dated 17 March 2008 (the 'Prospectus'). Terms defined in the Prospectus have the same meaning in this announcement unless otherwise defined.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Investors

Bianca Francis

Babcock & Brown

[phone]

Media

Anthony Kennaway

Babcock & Brown

[phone]

About Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships

Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Limited is a Guernsey incorporated company. The Company offers shareholders an exposure to investment in infrastructure assets, particularly those with a public or social character such as those developed under public bodies under private finance initiative or public private partnership procurements. 

The Company floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 9th November 2006 and on 23 June 2008 had a market capitalisation of £411  million. The Company's assets are diversified geographically as well as across several PPP/PFI sectors, including roads and tunnels, rail, schools, courthouses, police and custodial facilities, government offices and health facilities. Babcock & Brown has been responsible for the development and management of the majority of these assets and through Babcock & Brown Investment Management Limited (BBIML) will continue to manage them for the benefit of BBPP. 

1. Assumes 1 AUD = 0.48 GBP and is based on the exchange rate on 23 June 2008.

 

END

 

 

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