Pinsent Masons advises 'Aberdeen Roads' Consortium on £550m financial close

The Aberdeen Roads Limited consortium (known as Connect Roads prior to financial close), comprising Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Galliford Try, was selected as preferred bidder in June for the design, build, finance and operate (DBFO) contract to deliver the project for Transport Scotland in partnership with Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire Councils.

Balfour Beatty will invest up to £20 million, which represents a one third share of the sponsor’s investment requirement, with Carillion and Galliford Try also investing one third each. The project is being procured under the Scottish Government’s Non-Profit Distributing (NPD) model. Work will commence immediately and is expected to be completed ahead of schedule in winter 2017.

The project which is estimated to be in the region of £550 million, includes the design and construction of 58km of new dual carriageway The contract also includes the construction of 40 kilometres of new side roads, 30 kilometres of access tracks and more than 100 new structures, including two significant focal point bridges over the rivers Dee and Don.

Construction activities will be conducted by the UK construction businesses of Balfour Beatty, Carillion and Galliford Try in an equal joint venture. Once the construction is complete, the trunk road assets will be managed and maintained by Aberdeen Roads Limited for 30 years.

Pinsent Masons has market-leading expertise in the infrastructure sector with experts working across the UK and the globe on high profile projects throughout an infrastructure lifecycle including roads, rail, airports, water/waste and energy.

Drysdale Graham, Infrastructure & Projects partner at Pinsent Masons, said: "The AWPR / B-T Project financial close is a significant milestone to getting the roads network better connected in the north east of Scotland. The roads project will deliver a fast link to the north, west and south of Aberdeen through a bypass. We expect the road investment to help boost the local economy through job creation and better connectivity. This is the fourth NPD project that we have closed in Scotland this year following on from Ayrshire College, Ayrshire and Arran Mental Health Hospital and the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service National Centre, demonstrating our pre-eminence in this sector."

Balfour Beatty has a strong presence in the transport market across the UK and has significant experience of strategic road improvement contracts in Scotland, including the M77/Glasgow South Orbital DBFO and the M74 completion. Through Scotland TranServ, it is also responsible for the management and maintenance of trunk roads in the south west of Scotland, including the major River Clyde crossings at the Kingston and Erskine bridges.

Ian Rylatt, Chief Executive Officer, Balfour Beatty Investments said: “This project demonstrates the value of combining our investment and construction capabilities to deliver value for our customers. We look forward to working with Transport Scotland, Aberdeen City Council and Aberdeenshire Council to deliver this long-awaited scheme, which is the largest NPD to date.”