Preferred Bidder

Balfour Beatty PLC
03 October 2002

BALFOUR BEATTY JOINT VENTURE APPOINTED PREFERRED BIDDER FOR £100 MILLION
ROTHERHAM SCHOOLS PROJECT



Balfour Beatty plc, the international engineering, construction and services
group, announces today that Transform Schools (Rotherham) Ltd, a concession
joint venture between Balfour Beatty plc and Innisfree, has been appointed
preferred bidder for the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham Schools PFI project.
The project will be worth approximately £100 million.



The concession contract includes the construction of at least six new schools
and substantial upgrade and refurbishment work at a further nine.  The contract,
which covers a mix of both secondary and primary schools, also includes energy
management, on-going repairs and maintenance.



Mike Welton, Chief Executive of Balfour Beatty plc, commenting today, said: 'We
are delighted to be working with Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council in
providing schools that will offer a much enhanced learning environment and in
supporting the Council's objective of raising educational standards across the
Borough.'



Rotherham Borough Council Leader, Mark Edgell, said: 'This is a real opportunity
to transform Rotherham's school buildings.  Our pupils and teachers deserve the
kind of environment where teaching and learning can flourish.  Balfour Beatty
has an excellent record of partnership working with other schemes, and we are
confident this will be a success.'



The concession period will be for 28 years following construction completion.
Construction work is scheduled to be completed in the 36 months after financial
close, which is currently predicted for March 2003.



A joint venture of Balfour Beatty Construction Limited and Balfour Kilpatrick
Limited, the Group's multi-services and power systems business, will assume
responsibility for the construction programme.  Haden Building Management, also
a Balfour Beatty company, will provide on-going repairs and maintenance,
including caretaking.



This is the second schools concession won by Balfour Beatty in joint venture
with Innisfree.  In October 2000, Transform reached financial close with the
Stoke-on-Trent City Council for the Stoke Schools contract, the largest grouped
schools project in England, under which the company is building nine new schools
and progressively refurbishing the remainder of the 122 schools estate.





Enquiries to:

Tim Sharp

Tel: [phone]

www.balfourbeatty.com





Notes to Editors





Balfour Beatty and PPP



In addition to its education interests, Balfour Beatty has a range of Public
Private Partnerships:-



1.         Balfour Beatty has three healthcare concessions, the Edinburgh Royal
Infirmary and North Durham Hospital, through Consort Healthcare, and the
University College London Hospital.  The total construction value of these three
projects is approaching £500 million, with more than £330 million accruing
through long-term asset management contracts.  Balfour Beatty's equity
contribution to these three hospital projects is £24 million.



Balfour Beatty is also preferred bidder for Blackburn Hospital.



2.         The Group's prototype involvement in private finance came through its
25.5% interest in Barking Power Station, a project which has operated
successfully since its opening in 1995 and which was built by a consortium led
by Balfour Beatty.



3.         Also in the power sector, Balfour Beatty has been, since April 1999,
responsible for the maintenance, operation and development of London
Underground's high-voltage power distribution system, as a member of the
Seeboard Powerlink joint venture.  The concession company is served by PADCo (a
joint venture with Seeboard and ABB, in which Balfour Beatty has a 25% stake),
which takes practical responsibility for the £98 million, five-year initial
capital works and the associated maintenance.



4.         Balfour Beatty has three road concessions - the A1/M1 Link in
Yorkshire through Yorkshire Link, and the A50 in Derbyshire and the A30/A35 in
Devon and Dorset through Connect.  The equity investment in this sector is £16
million, the construction value was £384 million with associated service
contracts of approaching £100 million.



5.         The Aberdeen Waste Water project, a 30-year concession for the
finance, design, building, operation and maintenance of four water treatment
plants in the north of Scotland, reached financial close in 2000.



6.         As part of the Metronet consortium, Balfour Beatty is preferred
bidder for two concessions, the Bakerloo, Central and Victoria Line and the
Sub-Surface lines for the London Underground PPP.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange