Press Releases 2004

January 26, 2004
BOT business in Australia extended: Bilfinger Berger is to finance, plan, construct and operate prisons in Victoria

Bilfinger Berger has successfully extended its build-operate-transfer (BOT) activities in Australia to the field of public-sector building construction. With the financial close, the contracts for the private-sector realization of two prisons west of Melbourne have come into effect. The company will finance, plan, construct and operate the buildings for a period of 25 years. The contracting partner for this project with a volume of €150 million is the state government of Victoria. Baulderstone Hornibrook, Bilfinger Berger's Australian subsidiary, will be responsible for planning, construction and operation.

The focus of Bilfinger Berger's BOT activities in Australia so far has been on transport infrastructure. Construction started at the beginning of the year 2003 of a two-kilometer-long toll tunnel under the center of Sydney, with a total volume of €520 million.

Bilfinger Berger has many years of experience in international markets with private-sector concession projects. In the United Kingdom, school and hospitals buildings are under our operation within the framework of the British government's private-finance initiative. Just a few days ago, Bilfinger Berger signed contracts for the private-sector realization of further school buildings in the English county of Bedfordshire, and has also been selected as preferred bidder for the realization of several doctors' centers in London and Liverpool. In Asia, the company is a shareholder in the Beijing Lufthansa Center in China and in the Bangkok Expressway Company, which operates a major part of the elevated road system in the Thai capital.

In Germany, Bilfinger Berger is one of the pioneers of public-private partnerships (PPP). With the British Embassy building in Berlin, Bilfinger Berger has carried out a PPP project for the British government with model character. And in Lübeck, the company is playing a major part in the planning, financing, construction and operation of a road tunnel under the River Trave. There is growing interest in private-sector solutions in Germany. With its international experience and reference projects in the domestic market, Bilfinger Berger is well positioned to profit from this development.