Ashurst has advised Connect Plus, a consortium comprising Balfour
Beatty, Skanska, Atkins and Egis Projects SA, on the financial
close of the Highways Agency's motorway Design, Build, Finance and
Operate (DBFO) contract.
The DBFO contract consists of the widening of most of the remaining
three-lane sections of the London orbital motorway (around 63
kilometres in total) to four lanes in each direction. The contract
also includes responsibility for the future operation and
maintenance of the M25 for a 30-year period.
The project is the largest to close in the UK since the onset of
the global financial crisis and follows shortly after the £640m
Greater Manchester Waste PFI, on which Ashurst also advised,
reached financial close in April. The £1.3bn total financing for
the M25 DBFO project has been provided by a group of 16 commercial
banks and the European Investment Bank and the shareholders of
Connect Plus.
The Ashurst team was led by energy, transport and infrastructure
partner Mark Elsey, with
partners Patrick Boyle and
Judith Sharrock, counsel Michael Smith, senior associates David
Jardine and Claire Miles, associates Nick Hilder, Isabel James,
Nick Rainsford and Jonathan Turner, and trainees Barbara Walshe and
Adriana Badescu. International finance partner Chris Whiteley and real estate
partner Martin Wright with
counsel Joanne Senior also advised.
Commenting on the deal, Mark
Elsey said:
"This project has been seen as a bellwether for the UK PPP industry
and its successful financial close provides a considerable boost to
the PPP sector and to the Government's commitment to infrastructure
development as a means by which to stimulate the economy. The scale
of this project, made this deal very challenging indeed and we are
very pleased to have assisted the project consortium in reaching
financial close against the background of the most challenging
economic climate for more than a generation."