laing

Civil engineer John Laing has agreed buy a 30% stake Gdansk Transport Company, the concession company which is preferred bidder for the €700 m project to design, build, finance and operate the A1 Motorway in Poland.

The A1 project comprises a 90 km new road from Gdansk to Nowe Marzy in Northern Poland, with a planned 60 km extension to the city of Torun at the southern end of the motorway.

Construction on the new road is expected to start in 2005, with completion scheduled for 2008.

Laing will pay an initial sum of €250,000 for the stake and has a €11.5m equity commitment to the first phase of the project.

Andy Friend, chief executive of John Laing, said: "This exciting project represents another significant step forward in the use of PPP in EU Accession State countries. This is our first investment in Poland, an attractive market with extensive long-term infrastructure requirements where further projects are scheduled to be put out to tender in the near future."

Civil engineer John Laing has agreed buy a 30% stake Gdansk Transport Company, the concession company which is preferred bidder for the €700 m project to design, build, finance and operate the A1 Motorway in Poland. The A1 project comprises a 90 km new road from Gdansk to Nowe Marzy in Northern Poland, with a planned 60 km extension to the city of Torun at the southern end of the motorway. Construction on the new road is expected to start in 2005, with completion scheduled for 2008. Laing will pay an initial sum of €250,000 for the stake and has a €11.5m equity commitment to the first phase of the project. Andy Friend, chief executive of John Laing, said: “This exciting project represents another significant step forward in the use of PPP in EU Accession State countries. This is our first investment in Poland, an attractive market with extensive long-term infrastructure requirements where further projects are scheduled to be put out to tender in the near future.”