Roadside Real Estate Share Discussion Threads

[waldron] 26/7/2005 10:17

LONDON (AFX) - John Laing PLC, together with consortium partners Autostrade
Spa and IIG LLC, a transport infrastructure development company based in
Virginia, has submitted a proposal to the Virginia Department of Transportation
("VDOT") to establish a toll road concession under the Virginia Public Private
Partnerships Transportation Act 1995.
VDOT is accepting alternative bids for the contract for the next 90 days.
The project, involving over 1 bln usd of total funding and a proposed 50
year concession, is aimed at enhancing the operation of the 14 mile Dulles Toll
Road ("DTR"), which lies between Washington DC and Dulles International Airport,
and to provide a major portion of the financing to extend rail services from the
city to the airport.
If the current proposal is successful, John Laing said its equity commitment
will be "substantial" but is unlikely to be greater than the amount the group
has previously invested in individual major concessions such as the Ministry Of
Defence Main Building, London, and the Chiltern Railways concession.
[e-mail]
slm/

[waldron] 16/7/2005 15:05

France set for motorway sell-off

France needs the money to help cut its public deficit
The French government is preparing to sell its controlling stakes in France's three main motorway operators.
The sale would happen in the next few days, triggering full takeover bids for the firms, La Tribune newspaper said.

The government said last month that it planned to sell its stakes in the firms over the next eight to 10 months, raising 11bn euros (£7.6bn; $13.4bn).

Paris needs the cash to help cut France's public debt below the eurozone target of 3% of gross domestic product.

Takeover interest

La Tribune added the first invitation to tender could be made ahead of a forthcoming initial public offering for shares in French utility giant Electricite de France.

The three motorway operators are Autoroutes du Sud de la France (ASF), Societe des Autoroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France (Sanef) and Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone (APR).

ASF could be taken over by French construction giant Vinci, which already holds a 23% stake in the firm, La Tribune reported.

Rival construction group Bouygues is also thought to be interested in taking over a motorway operator.

[ariane] 22/6/2005 09:11

Bouygues Motorways Hint Could Lift Some Shrs

Wednesday, June 22, 2005 3:19:50 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires



0711 GMT [Dow Jones]--Bouygues (12050.FR) statement that it's officially interested in looking at motorway privatization plans in France could spark speculation in shares of Sanef (415156.FR), Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone (680700.FR), says Aurel Leven. Has EUR45 target on Sanef, EUR51 target on APRR. (GLK)

[grupo] 12/1/2005 12:10

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Siemens AG is on the short list of bidders for a contract
to install a motorway toll system in the UK, Wirtschafts Woche magazine said in
a report to be published tomorrow, citing sources close to the matter.
Aside from Siemens, two consortia are on the short list -- one consisting of
BT Group PLC and Thales SA and the other of International Business Machines
Corp, Serco Group PLC and Switzerland's Fela Management AG.
Meanwhile, DaimlerChrysler AG and Deutsche Telekom AG's IT unit T-Systems
are no longer being considered due to liability regulations, but they may
re-enter the bidding process by joining up with one of the finalists, the
magazine said.
"We are thinking about otherwise participating," it quotes DaimlerChrysler
Services as saying.
[e-mail]
ms/hjp

[grupo] 12/1/2005 07:28

PARIS (AFX) - Vinci unit Eurovia said it acquired UK road construction and
maintenance company T.E. Beach (Contractors) Ltd via its UK subsidiary Ringway.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
slb/ros/liu/jlw

[maywillow] 17/12/2004 08:17

LONDON (AFX) - Balfour Beatty PLC said InterRoute, a joint venture between
Balfour's RCS unit and Mott MacDonald, has been awarded a new road management
and maintenance contract worth as much as 400 mln stg.
The five-year contract, which will start on July 1 2005, is worth between
50-80 mln stg a year and has an option for a possible two-year extension.
The contract covers the network of trunk roads and motorways in
Gloucestershire, Wiltshire, Somerset, the greater Bristol area and parts of
Devon and Dorset.
[e-mail]
jc

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/11/2004 08:28

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Deutsche Lufthansa AG said it plans along with Allianz AG
and private equity company Apax to list their unit Autobahn Tank & Rast Holding
AG, the German motorway service-station group, on the stock exchange.
das/ab

[grupo guitarlumber] 09/11/2004 09:20

French toll-road shares go on sale
Ross Tieman, Evening Standard
9 November 2004

THE network of French toll-roads leading to Alpine ski resorts and the Mediterranean coast will go on the block today, as British bank HSBC begins marketing shares in Societe des Autoroutes Paris Rhin-Rhone.



The company is raising up to €1.35bn (£940m) through the sale of new shares equal to up to 32.5% of the enlarged capital in an initial public offer valuing the group at €4.15bn.



Some 70% to 30% of the shares will be available to international institutional investors through a placing*, though this will be cut back if French retail demand proves strong.



The French government is offering up to 36.7m shares at a price in the range of €38 to €43 for institutions*, and €37 to €42 for French retail investors.



The cash will be used to pay down the company's debts of €6.79bn and rebuild shareholders' funds of €150m.



Its net profits last year were €102m on revenues of €1.47bn, but strong traffic growth and reduced debts should enable rapid increases in earnings.



The institutional placing will close on 23 November, with first trading taking place the next day.

[grupo guitarlumber] 09/11/2004 07:37

French Highway Operator May Raise $1.7 Billion in Share Sale
Nov. 9 (Bloomberg) -- Societe d'Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone, Europe's third-biggest highway operator, plans to raise as much as 1.35 billion euros ($1.74 billion) in what could be France's largest share sale this year, the company said.

The state-owned company will sell stock to institutions in a range between 38 euros a share and 43 euros a share and to individuals for a euro less, the company said in an e-mailed statement.

Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone plans to give further details of the sale of as many as 32.68 million shares, or the equivalent of the 40 percent of outstanding shares, at a press conference in Paris at 10:30 a.m. today, the spokesman said.

``The highway operators are real cash-generating machines,'' said Bruno Catoire, a fund manager at Cholet-Dupont Gestion SA in Paris, which manages $1.5 billion. He plans to buy shares in the offer. ``It's a company with good visibility in terms of profits and it will have less debt after the share sale.''

Paris-based Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone, which manages 2,205 kilometers (1,370 miles) of highways, said last month it expects to increase both revenue and profit this year after it raised tolls on Oct. 1. Finance Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said in May he wants to increase the capital of toll-road operators to enable them to pay higher dividends to the government for projects, including extending high-speed rail links and expanding airports.

In addition to the main issue, the company may sell an additional 2.39 million shares if there is sufficient demand and plans to sell 1.69 million shares to employees. If all these shares are sold, total funds raise could reach 1.35 billion euros.

The French government raised 1.16 billion euros in a June share sale of Snecma SA, the world's third-largest maker of commercial aircraft engines.

Increased Dividends

Funds raised from the sale will be retained to help reduce debt and increase dividends, the company said in an Oct. 15 statement. The company published an ``initial document'' that serves as a preliminary prospectus with the French market regulator on Oct. 14.

Lehman Brothers Inc. and Societe Generale SA are advising on the sale. HSBC Holdings Plc is advising the government. Officials at Lehman and Societe Generale declined to comment. HSBC didn't immediately return phone calls.

Autoroutes Paris-Rhin-Rhone's first-half profit rose by a third to 62 million euros as debt costs declined. Sales gained 2.3 percent to 727 million euros. The company said in September that earnings are expected to increase for the full year. The company had debt of 7.44 billion euros at the end of June, a decrease from 7.96 billion euros a year earlier.

Trading

Autoroutes du Sud de la France SA, Europe's second-largest operator of toll highways, said in July that it expects traffic on its system to grow as the population of southern France expands by more than 35 percent by 2030. The company's stock began trading in March 2002 after the government sold a 49 percent stake.

The Autoroutes du Sud sale was 19 times oversubscribed andraised 2.6 billion euros after selling shares at 25 euros each to money managers and at 1 euro less to individuals. ASF shares now trade at 36.92 euros a share and are up 10 percent this year.

The government plans to sell a stake in Societe des Autouroutes du Nord et de l'Est de la France early next year, the Finance ministry said in a July statement.

[waldron] 02/11/2004 08:56

Road toll up by 'at least £1'


Londoners will be consulted on the charge rise
The congestion charge will rise to "at least £6", Ken Livingstone has said.
The Mayor of London told BBC London on Monday that the £5-a-day toll will increase by at least £1.

He said: "I don't like putting up taxes and fares. I have always said that during this term it will go up by at least £6. "

He later added no final decision would be made until Londoners had been consulted. The new fare could be in place by early December.

He added: "You put it up the minimum you need to, to do what you have got to do. It won't be less than a pound."

The congestion charge will be put on hold between Christmas and New Year to help boost business.

The toll will be suspended on the three working days between 25 December and 3 January.

A recent report by Transport for London found by 2010 congestion will increase by 8% and carbon dioxide emissions are also set to increase, suggesting the road toll is failing to reduce traffic.

[waldron] 01/11/2004 16:17

LONDON (AFX) - The London congestion charge is to rise to at least 6 stg,
the London Evening Standard reported citing Ken Livingstone, the capital's
mayor.
Livingstone is quoted by the newspaper as saying the increase in the charge
from the current 5 stg "won't be less than 1 stg".
"I have always said it would be in the region of 6 stg in this term. I think
doubling it would be too much," he said.
The mayor is today meeting transport commissioner Bob Kiley to consider the
options, the Standard added.
The congestion charge is run by Capita Group PLC, the business services
group.
jdd/slm/

[grupo] 31/10/2004 16:14

MUNICH (AFX) - Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe said he expects Germany's
first road toll system for trucks will be launched in January 2005 as scheduled.
In a speech today at a logistics industry conference, Stolpe said tests
conducted of the devices to be mounted on the trucks to monitor the distances
covered show only a 1 pct margin of error.
The truck toll system is being developed and operated by the Toll Collect
joint venture between DaimlerChrysler AG and Deutsche Telekom AG.
mog/jsa

[maywillow] 18/10/2004 06:59

Chicago toll sale leads way
By Jeremy Grant in Chicago
Published: October 18 2004 03:00 | Last updated: October 18 2004 03:00

Chicago has become the first US city to privatise a toll road or bridge in a landmark $1.8bn project involving Spain's Grupo Ferrovial, one of Europe's largest infrastructure groups, and Macquarie Investment Group (MIG), a unit of Australia's Macquarie Bank.


The deal, unveiled on Friday, is a sign of the increasing appetite among European toll road operators for projects in the US.

"Europe has well-capitalised toll road companies that have become more aggressive about looking for new opportunities around the world," said Mark Florian, a managing director in the municipal merger and acquisition group at Goldman Sachs, which acted as financial adviser.

The transaction could also serve as a model for further privatisations in the US, where many budget-strapped cities and states are under pressure to raise cash.

It involves a 7.8-mile (12.55km) toll road known as the Chicago Skyway built in 1959 and owned by the city. The road will now be operated under a 99-year contract by a consortium involving Cintra, a toll road operator and construction group jointly owned by Ferrovial and MIG. Cintra is set to be spun off this year.

The city of Chicago will receive an immediate payment of $1.82bn, some of which will be used to repay Skyway debt, other city debt and create a "long-term reserve fund" for Chicago.

Chicago, the third largest city in the US after New York and Los Angeles, has total outstanding debt of $5.4bn and has projected a budget shortfall of $220m for fiscal 2005.

City officials this month delayed finalising the city's budget, saying Chicago's financial situation was the most serious in 15 years.

In August, credit rating agency Moody's Investors Service revised its outlook for the city to negative from stable.

Richard Daley, Chicago's mayor, said: "I'm sure that some people will be demanding that we use all of the Skyway proceeds to eliminate the shortfall - and maybe even some new spending programmes. I believe it would be fiscally irresponsible to use all of the money at one time."

The only other such toll road deal in North America was done in 1999 in Toronto, Canada, also involving Cintra.

"Every US governor is going to be looking to see what assets they can now monetise as a result of this [Chicago deal]," said John Schmidt, a lawyer involved in the deal at Mayer, Brown Rose & Mawe.

[maywillow] 20/9/2004 07:49

TOLL CASH GATHERING DUST

More than £60m collected in toll revenue from motorists using the Dartford Tunnel and QE2 Bridge on the M25 is sitting unused in banks.

The cash remains unspent, despite research which rates the tunnel under the Thames among the bottom third in Europe for safety, according to the AA Motoring Trust.


It is calling for the funds to be used to improve safety in the tunnel.

Bert Morris, deputy director of the Trust, said surplus toll revenue of more than £60m had been building up since the crossing - used by 73,000 motorists a day - reverted to public ownership last year.

"This money should be used in the first instance to bring Dartford up to the standards that are now the norm across much of Europe," said Mr Morris.

"The funds should also be used to improve safety in London's other road tunnels and to build new Thames crossings.

"Providing safety systems to modern European standards, and increasing awareness of what people should do in the event of an emergency would help to ensure that this country does not have a tunnel disaster in future," he added.

[ariane] 28/8/2004 17:33

German Truck Toll System Test `Successful,' Der Spiegel Says
Aug. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's truck toll is to start on Jan. 1 following a ``successful'' secret test of the system two weeks ago, German magazine Der Spiegel reported, citing Toll Collect Chief Executive Officer Christoph Bellmer.

About 850 employees of Toll Collect GmbH, which is building the system, tested equipment installed on German highways and at gasoline stations and found the system failed only about 3 percent of the time, the magazine said, citing Bellmer.

Toll Collect, a venture of DaimlerChrysler AG and Deutsche Telekom AG, reached a new agreement with the government in February to operate the satellite-based toll system after Transport Minister Manfred Stolpe canceled the original contract following delays in its implementation.

(Der Spiegel 8-28 preview)

for the magazine's Web site

[waldron] 24/7/2004 16:17

Hauliers lift boycott of M6 toll road
By Paul Marston (Filed: 24/07/2004)


Freight companies expressed delight yesterday at a 40pc cut in truck charges on the M6 toll road, north of Birmingham.



Thousands of HGVs were reported to be taking advantage of the first day of the new £6 tariff, after seven months of a virtual freight boycott of the 27-mile route since its opening last December.

Hauliers were shocked by the initial £10 rate and the majority continued to use the conventional M6, despite time savings of 30 to 60 minutes on the tollway.

Analysts suggested the toll operator, Midland Expressway, was forced to make the price cut because truck numbers were well below target.

The Freight Transport Association said: "There is no doubt that operators regarded the previous toll as too high. We were a long-time campaigner for the new road and are absolutely delighted companies are now using it."

The average daily traffic total on the road has risen from 30,000 vehicles in January to 48,000 last month.

[waldron] 24/7/2004 16:02

Alarm over motorway toll flop
Bill Condie, Evening Standard
23 July 2004

HE Government may have to rethink its toll road policies after the country's first pay-as-you-go motorway fell short of targets set for heavy traffic use.

Operator Macquarie Infrastructure Group (MIG) has been forced to slash tolls on its M6 Birmingham relief road in a last-ditch effort to attract heavy lorries - a key segment for the project.


Analysts say haulage company traffic on the route is more than 80% below the company's target.


MIG's wholly owned Midland Expressway subsidiary has announced toll cuts for heavy goods vehicles from £10 to just £6 until the end of December.


The discount coincided with the start of roadworks on the publicly owned M6 and would help reduce the resulting congestion, Midland managing director Tom Fanning said.


'This new price is unbeatable value for money,' he claimed.


'We expect the haulage industry to welcome this move and look forward to seeing large numbers of lorry fleets using the M6 Toll.'


But it is believed the toll reduction has been necessary because the haulage industry has given the road such a thumbs-down.


Only about 3% of traffic on the motorway is heavy lorries - well short of MIG's target of 14% - and by reducing the toll charge at a time of anticipated greater congestion on the public motorway, the company hopes to get haulage companies used to paying for road usage.


Fanning said an average of 48,000 drivers used the road each day, but did not give a breakdown between lorries and cars.


The toll route was opened in December last year.


At the same time as announcing the incentives for lorries, he said that the introductory discounts for cars and vans would end on 16 August, when standard tolls would rise from £2 to £3.


News of the company's struggle on the toll route comes with MIG a frontrunner for the proposed development of a pay-to-use road worth as much as £1bn to connect with the M6.


Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has outlined a 'consultation proposal' for an extension to the M6 Toll that will run to Manchester, rather than widening the existing road.


As well as lukewarm response from road users, Darling, who would not say how the road would be funded, faces opposition to the project from local residents' groups.


However, if the road were to go ahead, MIG is seen has having a good chance given that Darling has said he considers the M6 Toll 'a success'.


Darling has not said how the new toll road project might be funded.

[ariane] 04/7/2004 18:02

LONDON (AFX) - Special motorway lanes to fast-track commuters to work if
they share their cars are set to be launched in a radical bid to ease the UK's
congestion crisis and cut pollution, The Observer reported.
The newspaper said Alistair Darling, the Transport Secretary, is expected to
unveil plans this week for American-style lanes for the exclusive use of
so-called high occupancy vehicles carrying two or more people.
With fines for single occupancy vehicles caught using the lanes, the first
experimental routes are thought to have been given the go-ahead for parts of the
M1 and M3, it said.
The newspaper added that, if successful, the scheme could be introduced to
congestion hot spots around the country; prime candidates would be the M25
around London and the M6.
It said the move will fuel speculation that the government is preparing to
announce widespread tolling on new road capacity in future.
[e-mail]
jdd/hjp

[ariane] 29/5/2004 12:39

France 'completes' tallest bridge





Cars will travel 270m above the Tarn Valley on the Millau Bridge
Construction workers in southern France have connected the last link in the world's highest road bridge.
The bridge over the River Tarn in the Massif Central mountains will carry vehicles across a 2.5km (1.5 miles) valley at a height of 270m (885ft).

When finished, the highest pillar will stand at just over 340m (1,115ft) tall.

The Millau bridge is expected to open for traffic by the end of the year, completing a new motorway link between Paris and the Mediterranean.

Once its pylons and giant suspension cables are in place, the structure will be higher than the Eiffel Tower, which reaches 343m.

'Heroic and extraordinary'

Workers on either side of the bridge shook hands and opened bottles of champagne after the final section was lowered into place on Friday afternoon, AFP news agency reported.

It is being constructed by Eiffage, the company that built the Eiffel Tower, and will have taken three-and-a-half years to complete.


Find out more about the Millau bridge


The company has shouldered the 260m euro construction cost ($300m) in return for the right to collect receipts from a bridge toll for 75 years.

Like Concorde and the Channel Tunnel, the bridge is Franco-British. The world-renowned architect Norman Foster is behind the design.

"I think it's heroic, it's extraordinary," he told BBC News Online after a visit to the site late last year.

"To have discussions, conversations, studies and models and then to see that being translated into reality in this landscape is an extraordinary experience and I think it touches everyone."

The project was due to take three years, but weather conditions put work on the bridge behind schedule.

The heat wave over last year's summer meant some of the welding could not be done, and over the previous winter it was so cold some work had to be halted.

[ariane] 18/5/2004 16:55

COLOGNE, Germany (AFX) - The Toll Collect truck toll consortium will not be
a profitable business, said Deutsche Telekom AG chief financial officer
Karl-Gerhard Eick.
He told today's annual meeting that by the end of the Toll Collect contract
in 2015, the company will have posted an overall loss.
But he said Telekom, which has a 45 pct stake in Toll Collect, has already
fully provided for its share of the losses. Telekom has so far made provisions
totaling 590 mln eur for Toll Collect.
The truck toll system, which is being developed for the government and has
been dogged by lengthy delays and controversy, is currently scheduled to start
on Jan 1 next year.
DaimlerChrysler AG also holds a 45 pct stake in Toll Collect, while French
company Cofiroute holds the rest.
mb/cw

[waldron] 19/4/2004 08:47

Toll collection 30% above projections


Monday, April 19, 2004



Motorists approaching the Highway 2000 toll booth in Bushy Park, St Catherine. (Observer file photo)

TOLL collection on the first phase of Highway 2000 - from Sandy Bay in Clarendon to Bushy Park in St Catherine - is 30 per cent above projections.

Tolling began on September 25 last year on the 13-kilometre roadway and up to March this year, in excess of two million motorists had paid toll at the booths, said Kingsley Thomas, chairman of the National Road Operating and Construction Company (NROCC), the vehicle used by Jamaica to spearhead the development of the highway being built and operated by French firm Bouygues.
"That is 30 per cent above what we had projected with an average of 11,000 paying vehicle trips per day," he said.

Vehicles using the highway pay toll prices from $50 to $120, depending on the size of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, Thomas said work was continuing on the construction of the highway, which includes the section of the roadway from Mandela Highway to Williamsfield, and the construction of a new six-lane bridge across the Portmore causeway.

He said the Mandela Highway to Busy Park segment should be completed before Christmas this year, while the six-lane bridge would be completed in 2005.

At the same time, Thomas said 4,400 hectares of land have already been acquired to facilitate developments along the Highway 2000 corridor, including a new town at Inverness, Clarendon, plus rest stops along the way, designed in the manner of those in North America.

In addition, Cabinet has taken a decision that several thousand hectares of land would be developed as prime real estate and a moratorium has been placed on the use of some of these lands.
The NROCC chairman also underscored the importance of the highway projects towards spurring economic growth and the creation of employment. "Every country in the world that has seen significant growth has done it through the provision of proper transportation and road infrastructure. The United States, Malaysia, any country at all. transportation network is number one in terms of spurring economic growth," he said.

Launched by Prime Minister P J Patterson in the late 1990s as a part of government's millennium projects, Highway 2000, on its completion, is expected to be a 236-kilometre motor route from Kingston to Montego Bay.
In the meantime, with the Negril to Montego Bay leg of the North Coast Highway completed, work was advanced on the segment to Ocho Rios.

He said that representatives from the European Union, financiers for the project, were currently in the island to finalise contractual arrangements relating to segment three - Ocho Rios to Portland.
He said that only one company had made a bid for that contract and "it is therefore a question of whether they will allow us to negotiate with that one company or go back to tender, which would delay the whole process for another 18 months".

[ariane] 08/4/2004 07:08

Autostrade upgraded to "buy"

Wednesday, April 07, 2004 12:00:16 PM ET
Deutsche Bank

LONDON, April 7 (New Ratings) - Analyst Federico Bruzzi of Deutsche Bank upgrades Autostrade (AUTS.MI) from "hold" to "buy," while raising his estimates for the company. The target price has been raised from €15 to €18.

Shares of Autostrade, a company involved in the construction and operation of toll motorways and tunnels primarily in Italy, are currently trading at €14.80.

According to Deutsche Bank's research note published this morning, the company has recently disposed its loss-making diversified units. Autostrade is poised to benefit in the near term from the restructuring of the company and its balance sheet, the analyst says. Following its restructuring efforts, the company is now well positioned to capitalize on an improved capex plan, recently approved by the Italian government. The impact of the new capex plan is currently not reflected in Deutsche Bank’s estimates for the company.

According to the analyst, Autostrade intends to introduce a €10 billion bond, which would represent an extremely low cost of debt. The proceeds would satisfy Autostrade’s funding needs in the near future and would significantly drive the company’s stock performance, the analyst believes.

The EPS estimates for 2004 and 2005 have been raised from €0.91 to €0.97 and from €1.01 to €1.07, respectively.