Press Release
08 February 2008
McGrigors advises lenders on £300 million Northern Ireland roads project
UK law firm McGrigors LLP has advised the lenders to a construction consortium on a £300m Northern Ireland PPP road scheme including the design, construction, finance and operation and maintenance of a 125km motorway and trunk road including all supporting infrastructure and amenities in Northern Ireland.
The project is funded by a £146,423,000 senior index linked bond, guaranteed by Ambac Assurance UK Ltd and a £121,055,000 senior loan facility from the European Investment Bank and a £17,549,514 mezzanine loan facility from Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation Ltd together with £17m equity. McGrigors also acted for Société Générale and Royal Bank of Canada as joint lead managers of the bonds and for the Law Debenture Trust Corporation plc as bond trustee and security trustee. The construction consortium is made up of Amey, Lagan Construction and Ferrovial.
Michael Watson, Head of Infrastructure at McGrigors said, “We have been operating in Northern Ireland for a number of years and this is the latest in series of PPP projects which we have advised on there. This continues to be an important area for McGrigors following the successful closure of 14 PPP projects worth £1. 55 Billion in 2007. We are also pleased that the commitment and effort we have shown to developing our office in Belfast as part of our UK-wide offering has enabled us to work on a number of key projects in Northern Ireland recently.”
Commenting on the project, Steve Lomas of Ambac UK said, “It has been a pleasure closely working with the McGrigors team in this financing for the land-mark Northern Ireland PPP Road scheme which will see much needed capital investment to Northern Ireland’s strategic roads network. We look forward to a long and productive partnership with McGrigors in future.”
The McGrigors team was led by Head of Banking Projects and Procurement, Michael Watson with partners Iain Macphail and Alan Diamond. Clifford Chance advised the European Investment Bank in relation to their loan agreement and Sumitomo were advised by Herbert Smith.
For further information please contact:
Louisa Hollins
Financial Dynamics
Telephone - +44 (0) 20 7269 7108
Email - Louisa.hollins@fd.com
Andy Peat
Financial Dynamics
Telephone - +44 (0) 20 7269 7185
Email - andy.peat@fd.com