Thames Tideway Tunnel Preferred Bidder

RNS Number : 9545S

International Public Partnership Ld

14 July 2015

 

14 July 2015

BAZALGETTE Consortium Awarded PREFERRED BIDDER FOR £4.2bn billion thames tideway TUNNEL project

International Public Partnerships Limited ('the Company', 'INPP'), the listed infrastructure investment company, is pleased to announce that the Bazalgette Consortium comprising INPP, Allianz, Amber Infrastructure Group, Dalmore Capital Limited, DIF and Swiss Life Asset Managers has been appointed preferred bidder for the Thames Tideway Tunnel ("TTT") licence. 

The Company will invest up to £210 million in the project, with the residual risk capital being funded by the remaining consortium partners. 

The Consortium will now work with the stakeholders, including Thames Water, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Ofwat (the UK regulator for water and sewage companies) to reach Financial Close/Licence award, which is expected in Summer 2015 and further details of INPP's investment will be provided at that time.

The TTT project is one of the most significant UK infrastructure investment opportunities and possesses the following characteristics:

·     A yielding investment through both construction and operating periods;

·     A fully RPI-linked revenue stream;

·     An investment grade rated entity that will be regulated by Ofwat; 

·     Strong protections to mitigate construction risks, including:

-    Experienced management team, project manager and construction contractors already in place;

-    Significant incentive arrangements under the construction contracts, Licence and stakeholder arrangements;

-    A government support package which provides significant mitigation to the risks of construction; and

·     Limited operational risks.

Project background

The TTT is a new part of the sewer network which will carry sewage and storm water discharges from the broader London sewerage system. The tunnel will be approximately 25km long, 7.2m in diameter and will run up to 65 meters below the River Thames.  Starting in West London, the main tunnel will follow the route of the Thames to connect with the existing Lee Tunnel, with sewage being transferred to the Beckton Sewage Treatment Works in East London.    

Construction of the estimated £4.2bn project (2011 prices) will be under three main contracts.   The construction Preferred Bidders were announced in February 2015, with BMB JV (Joint Venture of BAM Nuttall Ltd, Morgan Sindall Plc and Balfour Beatty Group Limited) selected for the West contract, FLO JV (Joint Venture of Ferrovial Agroman UK Ltd, Laing O'Rourke Construction) for the Central contract and CVB JV (Joint Venture of Costain Vinci Construction Grands Projects Bachy Soletanche) for the East contract.   Construction is expected to commence in 2016 and reach completion by 2023. 

During construction, the TTT project will benefit from a bespoke regulatory framework that will allow it to start generating revenue when construction begins. Once fully operational, Ofwat will regulate the TTT project in line with other water and sewerage company's regulatory cycles.

Rupert Dorey, Chairman of International Public Partnership said: "We are delighted that the Bazalgette Consortium has been appointed preferred bidder on the Thames Tideway Tunnel.  The award is testament to the Company's ability to source primary assets from the market that ultimately provide great value to our investors."

A copy of the Thames Water press release can be found at www.thameswater.co.uk.

For further information:  

Erica Sibree                                                     [phone]

Amber Fund Management Limited                                

Nick Westlake/Hugh Jonathan                            [phone]/1263

Numis Securities       

Ed Berry/Mitch Barltrop                                     [phone]/1039
FTI Consulting

Notes to Editors:

About International Public Partnerships:

International Public Partnerships Limited (INPP) is a listed infrastructure investment company which invests in global public infrastructure projects developed under the public private partnerships (PPP) and private finance initiative (PFI) procurement methods.

Listed in 2006, INPP is a long-term investor in 116  social and transport infrastructure projects, including schools, hospitals, courts, police headquarters, transport and renewable energy projects in the U.K., Europe, Australia and Canada. INPP seeks to provide its shareholders with both a long-term government-backed yield and capital growth through investment across both construction and operational phases of a project.

Visit the INPP website at www.internationalpublicpartnerships.com for more information.

About Amber Infrastructure Group:  

Amber Infrastructure Group (Amber) is a leading international infrastructure specialist, providing asset management and investment advisory services in respect of over £5 billion of assets in the UK, Europe, Australia and North America. Amber's core business focuses on sourcing, developing, advising on, investing in and managing infrastructure assets within the utilities, PPP, transport, renewable energy and regeneration sectors.

Amber provides investment advisory services to International Public Partnerships
Limited as well as private investment funds, specialising in urban regeneration. Amber is headquartered in London with offices in Munich, Sydney, Melbourne and San Francisco and employs over 80 people, making it one of the largest international infrastructure specialists.

About Allianz

Together with its customers and sales partners, Allianz is one of the strongest financial communities. About 85 million private and corporate customers insured by Allianz rely on its knowledge, global reach, capital strength and solidity to help them make the most of financial opportunities and to avoid and safeguard themselves against risks. In 2014, around 147,000 employees in over 70 countries achieved total revenues of 122.3 billion euros and an operating profit of 10.4 billion euros. Benefits for our customers reached 104.6 billion euros.

Allianz Capital Partners is the Allianz Group's in-house investment manager for alternative investments. With offices in Munich, London, New York and Singapore Allianz Capital Partners manages around EUR 12 billion of alternative assets. The investment focus is on direct investments in infrastructure and renewable energy as well as private equity fund investments. ACP's investment strategy is targeted to generate attractive, long-term and stable returns while diversifying the overall investment portfolio for the Allianz Group insurance companies.

www.allianzcapitalpartners.com

About Dalmore Capital Limited:

Dalmore Capital Limited (Dalmore) is an independent UK fund manager with over £1.5bn of investors' funds under management and offices in London and Edinburgh. Dalmore has made over 90 investments in lower risk UK infrastructure, in both greenfield and brownfield assets.

To date Dalmore's main investment vehicle is PPP Equity PIP L.P, a £500m fund established for long-term investment in operational UK infrastructure assets, targeting yielding assets with inflation-linked returns.

For the purpose of investment in the Thames Tideway Tunnel, Dalmore has established a single purpose fund which has secured £440m of commitments, primarily from leading UK pension funds as well as a small number of European investors.

About DIF

DIF is an independent dedicated fund management company managing funds of approximately € 2 billion. DIF invests in infrastructure assets that generate long term stable cash flows, including PPP / PFI / P3 and renewable energy assets in Europe, North America and Australia.

DIF has offices in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Paris, Luxembourg, Madrid, Toronto and Sydney.

Swiss Life Asset Managers

Swiss Life Asset Managers has more than 150 years of experience in managing the assets of the Swiss Life Group. This insurance background has exerted a key influence on the investment philosophy of Swiss Life Asset Managers, which is governed by such principles as value preservation, the generation of consistent and sustainable performance and a responsible approach to risks. As at 31 December 2014, Swiss Life Asset Managers managed a total volume of over CHF 183 billion assets for the Swiss Life Group, including over CHF 33, 7 billion for external clients in Switzerland, France and Germany. Swiss Life Asset Managers employs about 1400 people in Europe.

 

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