News
Equitix acquires North Lanarkshire Schools
February 2012
Equitix Limited is pleased to have acquired a 50% stake in the North Lanarkshire Education 2010 PPP Project from Balfour Beatty. The project consists of a portfolio of twenty-one schools and 3 educational facilities spread across seventeen sites including Coatbridge and Airdrie in Scotland. The schools include a mixture of primary and secondary schools and range from Catholic to Non-denominational. As of October 2008, the facilities have been fully operational and the FM services will continue to be provided by Balfour Beatty WorkPlace.
Phase I of Cambridgeshire Schools Now Complete
January 2012
Thomas Clarkson Community College in Cambridgeshire has opened to students today as Phase 1 of its £33.5 million re-development is complete. The new state of the art building, which has taken 16 months to complete is spread across three ‘learning communities’, a kitchen and restaurant area, a sports wing including sports hall, gym and changing facilities, a redeveloped administration wing and an impressive central "Eden" space which forms the heart of the college and includes social areas, a climbing wall and a green wall.
Work on Phase 2, which includes the development of a new community theatre and other performing arts accommodation, the new car park and external landscaping, as well as demolition of the college’s existing buildings will start next week. The whole project is due to be completed by the end of 2012.
Nick Parker, Chief Operating Officer of Equitix has commented that "The successful and timely completion of Thomas Clarkson Community College is an excellent achievement for all involved. The new school will allow the students and staff alike, the opportunity to study and work in some of the best and most exciting educational facilities in the UK. We look forward to continuing this good work in partnership with the local schools and Cambridgeshire County Council in the coming years."
Thomas Clarkson Community College is the second school in the Fenland Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme to occupy part of its new accommodation. Phase 1 at Neale-Wade Community College in March was handed over on time in August 2011 and work started last summer at three other schools in the programme – Cromwell Community College in Chatteris, Sir Harry Smith Community College in Whittlesey and Meadowgate School in Wisbech.
West Yorkshire Police
January 2012
West Yorkshire Police Authority and West Yorkshire Police have been granted permission by the Home Office and HM Treasury to appoint a preferred bidder to deliver two new divisional headquarters (DHQs), custody suites and a specialist operational training facility to improve the service it delivers to the public.
Following a competitive procurement and design development process the Interserve-Equitix Consortium has been identified as the successful bidder to move forward to the next stage. Their appointment as preferred bidder is anticipated in the near future. The successful consortium will design, build, finance and operate the new facilities. Having reviewed the West Yorkshire Police Authority’s Final Business Case, an allocation of over £100million of PFI Credits will be made by HM Treasury in order to deliver an ambitious programme of investment.
The new DHQs and custody facilities will be located at Elland Road in Leeds (within City and Holbeck Division) and Havertop Lane at Normanton (within Wakefield Division). These schemes will provide a modern, flexible working environment and importantly, support West Yorkshire Police’s drive to modernise services that are provided to local communities. The new Specialist Operational training centre will be located on a site adjacent to the Force’s Operational Support Division at Carr Gate in Wakefield and will include state of the art firearms training ranges, driver and public order training facilities.
Planning Applications for each of the three proposed developments will be submitted over the coming weeks. Financial close (at which point the contract is signed) will take place in May / June 2012 Construction will commence on each of the sites in the Summer 2012, to be completed in 2014. The Interserve-Equitix consortium will then be responsible for the delivery of facilities management services (including cleaning, maintenance and energy management) once the buildings are completed.
Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority, Councillor Mark Burns-Williamson, said: "This has been a tremendously competitive process, and with this approval, the delivery of the long awaited new facilities moves an important step closer. I am delighted that in approving the business case, the Home Office and Treasury have recognised the strength of these proposals and the value for money they will deliver. We have been impressed with the proposals developed by the Interserve design team which will deliver flexible, sustainable, innovative facilities fit for the 21st Century. The successful bidder has also made firm commitments to maximise the positive impact on the local economy during the construction process and beyond, providing many construction jobs including commitments to provide 85 apprenticeships."
"The project has been subject to external scrutiny throughout the procurement process and it is testament to the quality of the proposals that at every stage feedback has been positive.” Vice Chair of West Yorkshire Police Authority, Councillor Les Carter said: “The coalition Government clearly recognises the importance of these proposals in providing West Yorkshire Police with the facilities they need in order to meet the needs of the communities they serve. This much needed investment will deliver an important part of the wider programme of estate re-organisation and rationalisation which will leave a lasting legacy for the delivery of police services in West Yorkshire".
Nigel Brook Assistant Chief Officer (Finance and Business Services) said "A combined team made up of West Yorkshire Police officers, staff, secondees from Leeds City Council's Public Private Partnership Unit and advisers have worked extremely hard for three years to bring this project to this key point. I am delighted that the delivery of the new buildings is now so close".
Equitix Fund II reaches £235 million
9th January 2012
Specialist infrastructure manager Equitix has closed on £235 million for its second PPP social infrastructure fund, and has a further £15 million reserved by investors to be funded in January 2012. This brings the total amount committed to £250 million, reaching the Fund’s initial hard-cap.
Current Fund II LPs recently agreed to raise the Fund’s hard-cap to £350 million given the strong pipeline of attractive investment opportunities and allowing further investors to join during the first quarter of 2012.
Investors in Equitix Fund II see continuing opportunities to invest in good quality, low-risk UK PPP assets, which are attractive in the current environment. Equitix has been active in the market, having already committed nearly 60% of funds raised to primary and secondary UK PPP projects.
Equitix is supporting the Treasury's initiatives to consider new PPP project models that might deliver better value for money whilst ensuring pension fund investors receive an attractive return for the project risk profile.
Evercore Private Funds Group is acting as sole global placement agent for the Fund.
School for Africa and Help for Heroes
January 5th 2012
Equitix, Deloitte, CMS and Evercore would like to thank everyone who attended or supported them to raise money at their second annual charity drinks evening at Good Enough College in December. Due to an astounding effort by all, we have raised over £25,500 which has been split equally between the two charities so a HUGE thank you to you all!
School for Africa
Every penny of the £27,000 raised at our inaugural charity event in December 2010 has been committed to building a science laboratory at the Endana school in Africa which when complete will allow the pupils of Endana to study towards sitting the national examinations. Ol Pejeta conservancy are sourcing constructors through a competitive tendering process to ensure that they a) get best value for money and b) get a quality build. A decision should be imminent and they continue to keep us up-to-date with the progress made. Building the laboratory will go a long way to assisting with the education of the children at Endana. However, more help is always needed. The school continues to grow taking in pupils from the surrounding communities and has increased in volume from 146 to 206 students in the last year.
Help for Heroes
Alongside supporting Endana secondary school, we were also fund raising for Help for Heroes at the event in December 2011. H4H was set up in 2007 to do something practical to help the men and women of our Armed Forces who are injured while serving our country. Now 4 years old, they have raised over 110 million pounds in support of the country’s wounded and we are very grateful to have been able to support them to raise more.
Equitix’s New Recruits
November 2011
Two new team members of staff have joined Equitix this month.
Rebecca Collins has joined Equitix as a Development Director in the OFTO and Transmissions sector. Rebecca joins from Ernst and Young LLP where in her most recent role she was seconded to OFGEM as Interim Head of OFTO Transaction design.
In addition to OFTO experience, Rebecca brings a strong commercial awareness of the interface between the public and private sectors. Rebecca has a deep understanding of the U.K. PPP market with a combination of project finance, financial modeling and procurement advisory skills developed over nine years of successfully leading complex infrastructure transactions across a variety of sectors including renewable energy, transport and social infrastructure.
Mark Fowkes has joined Equitix as an Associate Director in the Finance & Commercial team, with particular responsibility for education and other accommodation projects. Previously, Mark was Commercial Manager at Partnerships for Schools, part of the Department for Education, the U.K. Government agency responsible for all capital procurement on the school estate in England.
Prior to moving to PfS, Mark was Director of the Infrastructure Finance Group, Global Banking & Markets at The Royal Bank of Scotland in London. He has ten years investment banking experience working in the RBS Project Finance team, with broad and diversified experience in loan origination, execution, equity investments and derivatives across the global PPP infrastructure market. Mark brings key transactional skills in managing deals to Financial Close timely and efficiently, while maintaining good relations with a wide range of clients.
Geoff Jackson, CEO of Equitix, commented that "Rebecca and Mark will broaden and deepen Equitix’s market knowledge and skills adding to our ability to deliver value to clients and investors."
Equitix Fund II announces the acquisition of the Primary Plus portfolio of 6 LIFT assets
18 October 2011
Equitix is pleased to announce the acquisition of a 60% share in the equity, subordinated debt and mezzanine debt interests in 6 LIFT (Local Improvement Finance Trust) companies comprising 11 SPVs. The portfolio includes the Greater Nottingham, North Nottinghamshire, Southern Derbyshire, MaST, Leicester and Sandwell LIFT companies that have a combined capex value of £370m across 45 buildings.
Community Solutions will be taking on the management services contract for all the assets, using their long running experience in the LIFT market and experience of providing management services for community facilities across large areas of the Midlands, Manchester, Yorkshire and the South East England (including Equitix Fund I’s LIFT portfolio).
Hugh Crossley, Chief Investment Officer at Equitix commented: ‘this acquisition places Equitix as a significant Private Sector Partner in this specialist sector which fits very well into the wider PPP portfolio we have built up over recent years’.
Equitix Fund II Exceeds £150 million
21st September 2011
Equitix, the UK-based developer, investor and fund manager that specialises in core infrastructure, is pleased to announce that Equitix Fund II has comfortably exceeded its £150 million target, nine months after its first close. All of the new and existing investors are UK corporate or local authority pension funds, a number of which are also investors in Equitix Fund I.
Equitix is in detailed discussions with a number of additional investors, in the expectation that Fund II will reach £250m by the end of 2011.
Fund II has already deployed capital into PFI contracts in healthcare, street lighting and integrated highways, investing LPs’ commitments in delivering long-term, availability-based income, linked to UK inflation.
Hugh Crossley, Chief Investment Officer at Equitix, comments:
"We are pleased with the level of investor interest in Fund II and, as promised, we continue to focus on assets which we expect to generate the predictable, long-term income we are delivering to the Equitix Fund I investors."
Evercore Partners is acting as Equitix’s sole placement agent.
Equitix Triathalon Competitors Raise Money for School for Africa
11th August 2011
Six members of Equitix entered the gruelling Jones Lang La Salle property triathlon in July as two mixed relay teams. Competing against a mix of professional and enthusiastic triathletes, our two teams swam, cycled and ran their way to 14th and 73rd place out of 135. A lot of fun was had on the day with a friendly competitiveness between the two teams! In the process we raised over £400 for School for Africa supporting Endana Secondary School in Kenya with the money being put towards equipment for the new science laboratory being built. Thank you to the rest of the team for supporting us.
Sion, Rory, Kirsty, Ariyanna, Andy and Jon
Contracts signed to refurbish three more Fenland schools in Cambridgeshire
2nd August 2011
Equitix is pleased to announce that three contracts have now been signed as part of phase 2 for Cambridgeshire Building Schools for the Future. The contracts are to re-build and refurbish Cromwell Community College in Chatteris, Sir Harry Smith Community College in Whittlesey and Meadowgate Special School in Wisbech as part of a major re-development of secondary schools in the local district.
The three contracts are worth £28m in total and will include the provision of new accommodation and facilities at all three schools as well as much of their existing accommodation being refurbished. Work will start on site this month and will be finished by August 2013. The project will be delivered in partnership with Cambridgeshire Learning & Community Partnerships Ltd, the Local Education Partnership (LEP) which was set up a year ago to deliver the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) projects in the county. Kier Eastern are the building contractor.
These projects have been delivered six months ahead of programme, with the projects achieving financial close within 7 months of design commencing. This is down to a great amount of work by all three schools, the County Council, and Partnerships for Schools.
Equitix acquires 50% stake in ‘Three Shires’ healthcare projects
7th July 2011
Equitix is pleased to announce that Equitix Fund II has acquired Carillion’s 50% interest in three healthcare Special Purpose Vehicles (SPVs).
Known collectively as the ‘Three Shires’ project, the acquisition includes the provision of ongoing services at community mental health facilities in Lincolnshire, Leicestershire and Derbyshire. All the assets are now fully operational following a successful construction phase that had a combined value in excess of £62million. Carillion FM will continue to provide facilities management services at all of the sites.
Geoff Jackson, CEO of Equitix, comments:
"The ‘Three Shires’ project represents a good fit with our long-term strategy of investing in social infrastructure within local communities. We focus on projects that will help improve the lives of the people they serve while also meeting the needs of our investors, and ‘Three Shires’ will help us continue in that tradition."
Equitix Fund II passes £100 million mark
21 June 2011
Equitix is delighted to announce that more than £100 million has now been invested in Equitix Fund II, following an initial close of £70 million at the beginning of the year.
Fund II has already invested in six PFI contracts in healthcare, street lighting and integrated highways, and Equitix is part of the consortium that is preferred bidder on the Greater Gabbard Offshore Transmission Owner project (OFTO). Equitix Fund II expects to announce further closes through the third and fourth quarters of 2011.
The three new investors are all UK corporate or local authority pension funds, two of which were also investors in Equitix Fund I.
Evercore Private Funds Group is acting as Equitix’s placement agent.
Hugh Crossley, Chief Investment Officer at Equitix, comments:
"Building on the success of Fund I, Fund II is making good progress against its target of £150 million having passed the £100 million mark. We are particularly pleased to see investors in Fund I choosing to invest with us again, but also welcome the new LPs, who are not only buying into the asset class, but also into Equitix’s track record of delivering successful investments in core infrastructure."
"As with Fund I, we intend to put investors’ money to work efficiently in UK PPP projects in order to deliver predictable, long-term, inflation-linked returns over the fund’s life."
Equitix Acquires 50% Stake in Oldham and Rochdale Street Lighting PFIs
13th June 2011
Equitix is pleased to announce that it has completed its investment in the Oldham and Rochdale Street Lighting PFI projects– two 25-year concession contracts for the provision and maintenance of public street lighting and traffic signs in Oldham Metropolitan Borough and Rochdale Metropolitan Borough.
The schemes involve the ‘Community Lighting Partnership’ consortia working in partnership with the two councils with the aim of cutting long-term maintenance costs, reducing crime and achieving road safety and environmental benefits via:
- Replacement of approximately 22,000 lighting columns in Oldham (which represents approximately 80% of the total lighting stock in Oldham) and 25,000 lighting columns in Rochdale during an initial five year Core Investment Programme, followed by the replacement of a further 5,467 lighting columns in Oldham and 4,383 lighting columns in Rochdale during a 20-year operational period;
- Reduction in energy consumption and CO2 emissions; and
- Installation of state of the art technology for early detection of defective lighting.
The total contract value is £220 million. Equitix is investing alongside Pell Frischmann and E.ON is delivering the scheme through a subcontract.
Hugh Crossley of Equitix, said:
“These two projects are Equitix’s second and third street lighting investment through the Community Lighting Partnership following our acquisition of a stake in the Blackpool Street Lighting PFI project in February 2010. Equitix Fund II is a long term investor in PFI projects on behalf of pension investors, including local authority pension funds. We look forward to working in partnership with the councils, E.ON and Pell Frischmann over the life of the concession.”
Equitix Consortium named by OFGEM as Preferred Bidder for Greater Gabbard Offshore Transmission Link
26th May 2011
A consortium led by Equitix, the UK-based developer, investor and fund manager, has been named by OFGEM as preferred bidder for Greater Gabbard OFTO (Offshore Transmission Owners), the largest of nine assets tendered by OFGEM in the first round of procurement. The value of the transmission link to the 500 MW offshore wind farm off the Suffolk coast is forecast by OFGEM to be £316.6m.
The Green Energy Transmission (GET) consortium of Equitix, AMP Capital Investors and Balfour Beatty has been selected as preferred bidder for the 20-year concession to own and operate the transmission asset in the Thames Estuary. Long-term services will be delivered by Balfour Beatty Utility Solutions.
Equitix was also recently shortlisted for all of OFGEM's round 2a projects, in consortium with Balfour Beatty Capital.
Nick Parker, Chief Operating Officer of Equitix, comments: "This project represents an excellent fit with our funds' investment criteria, providing sustainable, long-term, inflation-linked, availability-based payments. We are delighted to be appointed and are looking forward to working alongside OFGEM, the project developer and their consortium partners to achieve financial close later in the year."
http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/201105260900023301H.html
Birmingham Highways Wins Another Award!
13th May 2011
Birmingham Highway Maintenance PFI last night won the award for being the ‘Best Transport or Road Maintenance Project’ at the Partnerships Bulletin Awards Dinner in London. Birmingham Highways a partnership with Equitix, Amey, Birmingham City Council and Lloyd’s Bank, has now won 4 awards including ‘European Services PPP Deal of the Year’ at the Project Finance Journal awards ceremony, also in London.
This prestigious title is another award win in just three months for the £2.7bn, 25-year project. The contract has also recently been named ‘European Road Finance Deal of the Year’ by Jane’s Transport magazine and ‘European PPP Deal of the Year’ by Project Finance International Magazine.
The partnership is committed to a long-term programme of improving Birmingham’s roads and keeping the city moving.
Equitix Leisure (Bristol): SPRING HAS ARRIVED!
April 2011
Good progress is being made with the construction of the facilities for the new Leisure Centre at Hengrove Park in Bristol and a ceremony was held on site recently to “top up” the last few litres of water into the Olympic Pool tank ready for testing. On site were Daisy Stagg who, together with Colin Smith the Lord Mayor, Council Deputy Leader Simon Cook, Martyn Osborne (Kier) and Andrew Holt (Parkwood Leisure) put the last bucketfuls of water into the pool.
The reinforced concrete structure of the teaching pool and Olympic pools are tested with water to British Standards prior to the sand/cement render and ceramic tiles being installed. The water level in the tank must not fall by more than 5mm, in order to pass the test. The teaching pool has already passed its test, the water level falling only 3mm. Evaporation can also be taken into account, but they did not need to consider this to achieve the pass.
Kier Western is the Principal Contractor for the construction of the new Leisure Centre. The facilities being provided at the centre will include:
- 25m x 50m 10 lane community swimming pool (Olympic size)
- 20m x 10m teaching pool
- 150 station health and fitness suite
- 4 court sports hall
Ancillary facilities include a health living zone, aerobics studio, café, crèche, climbing wall and separate wet and dry changing areas. The pools will have adjustable height floors, which will allow a number of different activities to be undertaken concurrently; this also enables the pool to be adapted to a 25m length for junior competitions. The health and sports facilities will provide a much needed facility for the residents of South Bristol.
Equitix Reaches Second Close in Derbyshire
April 2011
Equitix are pleased to announce that financial close has been achieved for the non sample schools as part of the Derbyshire BSF programme.
Phase 2 of the programme is valued at over £40m of capital investment to be provided at Shirebrook Academy, Stubbin Wood and Netherthorpe School. The project will be delivered in partnership with Derbyshire County Council and the Local Education Partnership.
Geoff Jackson, CEO of Equitix has said, "We look forward to working with our partners to deliver the three schools and are committed to delivering excellent design and value for the schools as well as the local community." To mark the occasion the Duke of Devonshire attended a sod cutting ceremony at Netherthorpe and the pupils enjoyed seeing the diggers arrive at Shirebrook and Stubbin Wood...!
Shirebrook Academy Principal Julie Bloor and Stubbin Wood Head Teacher Lee Floyd attended the sod cutting ceremony for Shirebrook and Stubbin Wood alongside Ian Stephenson who is the Academy Sponsor and two pupils.
The first phase of the programme to regenerate and build Bolsover, Springwell and Heritage High School was completed in January 2011 with all three schools now fully occupied. Early feedback from the pupils indicates that the new facilities are making a real difference to the educational and academic outcomes.
Red Nose Day
March 2011
As part of the red nose day charity efforts the students at Thomas Clarkson Community College in Cambridgeshire participated in a non uniform day donating £1 for the privilege. Pupils were also asked to bake and donate cakes and biscuits which were then sold at break and lunchtime. The whole school participated in the charity day including around 1400 students and staff.
The college decided to split the funds raised between a local, national and international cause. Endana Secondary School in Nanyuki is their chosen charity for the international cause and the money donated is going towards buying books for the school.
Well done and many thanks to all those involved!
School for Africa
March 2011
Plans have now been drawn to build a science laboratory at the Endana Secondary School near Nanyuki in Kenya with the money raised by the School for Africa event in December of last year. The building of the science room will allow Endana to prepare its first lot of pupils to study for the national examinations later this year. This is a significant step towards the expansion of the curriculum taught at the school.
In addition to the development of the facilities available to pupils at Endana secondary school, some of the money will be going towards the building of an administration block and staff room. The school administrative functions and teachers lessons’ planning are currently carried out in a classroom set aside for these. Given increased enrolment (206 pupils) and subsequent need for additional classrooms, the school board has placed the administration block as amongst the top priorities in order to release the current classroom used by the administration and teachers for teaching.
Red Nose Day
March 2011
As part of the red nose day charity efforts the students at Thomas Clarkson Community College in Cambridgeshire participated in a non uniform day donating £1 for the privilege. Pupils were also asked to bake and donate cakes and biscuits which were then sold at break and lunchtime. The whole school participated in the charity day including around 1400 students and staff.
The college decided to split the funds raised between a local, national and international cause. Endana Secondary School in Nanyuki is their chosen charity for the international cause and the money donated is going towards buying books for the school.
Well done and many thanks to all those involved!