Press Releases 2004

March 4, 2004
A new private-finance initiative project in Britain Bilfinger Berger chosen as preferred bidder for school complex in Coventry

A consortium headed by Bilfinger Berger has been selected as the preferred bidder for a private-finance initiative to build and operate a new school complex in the English city of Coventry. The consortium will design, finance, build and operate for 30 years a school building that includes extensive sports and recreational facilities. The project volume totals €30 million.

Bilfinger Berger's portfolio of such public-private partnership (PPP) projects in the educational sector now includes school buildings used by some 10,000 British students. In the English county of Wiltshire, the company operates three school facilities, and only a few weeks ago a contract came into effect under which Bilfinger Berger will finance, design, build and operate two additional school facilities in the county of Bedfordshire.

Using this same PPP model, Bilfinger Berger is also active in Britain in the area of hospitals and health care facilities. A hospital in Hull is already in operation; a second one is under construction in Gloucester. In addition, Bilfinger Berger was recently named the preferred bidder to design, finance, build and operate the facilities for combined clinics and medical centers in Liverpool and London.

The private financing initiatives of the British government have for years ensured the rapid and cost-effective realization of urgently needed public facilities in Britain, and these PPPs will also become increasingly important in Germany. In an effort to encourage PPPs as a way of helping meet Germany's needs, the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Housing is setting up a federal competence center in this area.

Because of its proven track record in PPPs, Bilfinger Berger is well positioned to profit from the growing acceptance of this innovative financing model in Germany.