Carillion wins preferred bidder status to construct UK's largest hospital

Linklaters and Addleshaw Goddard have landed roles on a £335m public private partnership (PPP) initiative to build a new hospital in Liverpool.

The Royal Liverpool and Broadgreen University Hospitals Trust has selected Carillion as the preferred bidder, with construction to start next year on what is set to be the largest hospital in the country. 

Linklaters is advising Carillion and equity investors Lloyds Banking Group with a team led by head of global project finance Bruce White. The magic circle firm is one of several firms on the construction giant's legal panel, which also includes Slaughter and May and DLA Piper.

A team from Addleshaws led by projects partner Jacqui Langley-White is advising the trust. Langley-White previously worked with the Royal Liverpool Hospital Trust on a £500m acute hospital scheme.

The new hospital will include 646 beds, including a 40-bed critical care unit, 18 operating theatres and one of the largest emergency departments in the northwest.

White, who also worked on the Alder Hey Children's Hospital PPP, commented: "We are really pleased to have helped Carillion and Lloyds to achieve preferred bidder status. We now go into the funding competition, which will be really interesting – there are some new finance products emerging, building on our experience recently completing the institutional debt investor financing on Alder Hey hospital."

Work on site is due to start after the project reaches financial close, which is expected in January 2014, with completion scheduled for 2017.