Beachcroft wins role on MoD PFI project

Beachcroft has advised on a £690m PFI project to provide the UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) with new office and accommodation facilities.The deal, which came to a financial close on 1 August, saw the firm take a lead role for Inteq, the 50:50 joint venture between project developer John Laing and services and maintenance group Interserve. The project sees the Inteq consortium work with the MoD to create and manage flagship offices, a state-of-the-art communications centre and an accommodation complex for 2,200 military and civilian staff at Corsham in Wiltshire. Both Laing and Interserve have committed £6.75m to the project, while Dresdner Kleinwort has provided £148m worth of debt. Under the terms of the deal, the MoD will pay the consortium for the cost, upkeep and maintenance of the facilities up to the value of £690m over the next 25 years.The Beachcroft team, led by the firm's head of projects, Malcolm Austwick, and assisted by projects solicitor Alison Guildford, was initially introduced to Inteq via existing client Interserve when the consortium originally tendered for the work from the MoD back in 2004.The MoD turned to longstanding adviser Bristol-based Veale Wasbrough, instructing projects partner David Worthington, assisted by associate Jonathan Jones. Meanwhile, CMS Cameron McKenna project finance partner Jason Davies advised Dresdner Kleinwort.Beachcroft's Austwick said: "This was a big deal for the firm and we had quite a lot of lawyers involved in addition to projects lawyers. It was an interesting site to work on."

September 10, 2008 at 10:35 PM

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