RNS Number : 3931X
Babcock&Brown Public Ptnrships Ltd
24 June 2008
ACQUISITION OF ADDITIONAL INVESTMENT AND ANNOUNCEMENT OF C SHARE INVESTMENT AND
CONVERSION
The New Royal Childrens' Hospital
Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Limited ("BBPP" or "the Company") today advised that
it has agreed to acquire 100% of the ordinary
equity interest in the new Royal Childrens' Hospital PPP Project in Melbourne, Australia for a
consideration of approximately £44m.
The new Royal Childrens' Hospital project provides for the construction and operation of
the new Royal Childrens' Hospital ("RCH"). The
RCH is the major specialist paediatric hospital in the state of Victoria and also treats
children from other states of Australia and
south-east Asia. Upon completion, the hospital will have an area of approximately 246,000
square metres and a total development value in
the order of AUS$1.07 billion (£514 million)
1. The project will open in December 2011 with demolition of the current hospital and
associated works to be completed by December 2014.The PPP concession for the project expires in December 2036. Construction of the new facility
is being undertaken by Bovis Lend Lease under
a fixed price contract. Construction commenced in December 2007 and is on schedule.
The Company has acquired this investment from Babcock & Brown who were responsible for the
origination and development of the project.The Company has been working on this acquisition for a number of months. The acquisition has
been supported by independent valuation advice
from PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The RCH investment provides yield during both its construction and operational periods and
the Company anticipates this acquisition to
be immediately accretive in both yield and IRR terms. Management of this asset will be
undertaken by the existing Australian-based staff
who manage the Company's other Australian assets.
Giles Frost, on behalf of Babcock & Brown Investment Management Limited said "We have been
working on this significant transaction for
some time. It is the biggest PPP project developed to date in the state of Victoria and, on
completion, will be one of the world's foremost
centres for paediatric care. The project has a traditional PPP structure and can be expected
to deliver additional strong and predictable
long term returns for BBPP. It is also very pleasing that once again the Company has become
substantially fully invested ahead of the
timescale previously indicated to shareholders".
The commitment to investment in the new Royal Childrens' Hospital project will trigger the
conversion of the Company's C shares into
Ordinary Shares.
C Share Conversion
The Company is also pleased to announce that, following admission of the C Shares to the
Official List and to the London Stock Exchange
on 22 April 2008, in excess of 80 per cent. of the assets attributable to the C Shares have
now been invested. In accordance with the terms
of the C Shares, the Directors have determined that the Calculation Time for the conversion of
the C Shares into Ordinary Shares is 24 June
2008 and, therefore, the conversion will be made on the basis of the respective net asset
values of the C Shares and Ordinary Shares as at
the close of business on 24 June 2008.
The expected timetable for conversion is as follows:
Conversion Ratio announced 26 June 2008
Record date for Conversion and C Share 26 June 2008 (close of business)
register closes
Conversion Time and dealings in New Shares 1 July 2008
commence
Crediting of CREST accounts with New Shares 1 July 2008
Share certificates in respect of New Shares From Tuesday 1 July 2008
despatched
Further details of the conversion and rights attaching to the C Shares are set out in the
Company's prospectus in relation to the
placing and offer for subscription dated 17 March 2008 (the "Prospectus"). Terms defined in
the Prospectus have the same meaning in this
announcement unless otherwise defined.
ENDS
For further information please contact:
Investors
Bianca Francis
Babcock & Brown
+44 20 7203 7300
Media
Anthony Kennaway
Babcock & Brown
+44 20 7203 7300
About Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships
Babcock & Brown Public Partnerships Limited is a Guernsey incorporated company. The
Company offers shareholders an exposure to
investment in infrastructure assets, particularly those with a public or social character such
as those developed under public bodies under
private finance initiative or public private partnership procurements.
The Company floated on the main market of the London Stock Exchange on 9th November 2006
and on 23 June 2008 had a market capitalisation
of £411 million. The Company's assets are diversified geographically as well as across
several PPP/PFI sectors, including roads and
tunnels, rail, schools, courthouses, police and custodial facilities, government offices and
health facilities. Babcock & Brown has been
responsible for the development and management of the majority of these assets and through
Babcock & Brown Investment Management Limited
(BBIML) will continue to manage them for the benefit of BBPP.
1. Assumes 1 AUD = 0.48 GBP and is based on the exchange rate on 23 June 2008.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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