Kier Group has announced that Halton Borough Council and the Merseylink consortium have reached financial close on the construction of the £450m Mersey Gateway Project, a new six-lane toll bridge over the River Mersey.

Kier Infrastructure is one of the three Merseylink construction joint venture (CJV) partners including Samsung C&T Corporation and FCC Construcción S.A.

Construction will commence immediately and the project will be operated and maintained for the next 30 years.

The Merseylink consortium's equity partners are Macquarie Capital Group Limited, Bilfinger Project Investments Europe Limited, and FCC Construcción. The joint venture was appointed as preferred bidder for the project in June 2013.

-- Advertisement --

Steve Nicholson, Interim Chief Executive of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board and the Project Director leading up to financial close, said: "When we set out our procurement approach three years ago we deliberately chose a strategy that would allow our potential private sector partners to innovate, save money for the public purse and add value to the project. Merseylink has delivered on all three fronts and we are excited to be concluding this deal today."

Haydn Mursell, Group Finance Director of Kier, added: "The Chancellor in his budget statement last week confirmed the Government's support for Mersey Gateway, recognising the huge economic, social and transport benefits that it will bring to the region.

"This is a landmark infrastructure project which Kier and its consortium partners are proud to be involved in. We have worked closely with Halton Borough Council over recent months to reach this position and we look forward to delivering the project with them over the coming years."

(CD/JP)