Hochtief agrees to £13m deal over its PPP equity stakes in six schools

Hochtief and the PFI Infrastructure Company (known as PFI Co) have struck a deal that could see Hochtief selling a 49% stake of its equity in PPP schools. The buyer will pay £13m.

The two companies have struck a call option agreement that means PFI Co has up until December to make a start on the move.

If PFI Co presses the button, Hochtief PPP Solutions would part with 49% of Hochtief PPP Schools Capital, an entity which holds Hochtief’s shareholdings in six early-stage PFI projects in the UK and Ireland.

PFI Co would pay £9.3m immediately plus £3.6m over the next four years.

“It is exactly the thing that PFI Co looks for,” said a spokesman. “A lot of our existing PFI equity stakes have been in Scotland and we have been looking to expand into England and Ireland.”

PFI Co is run from Edinburgh, the task of managing the business being delegated to Quayle Munro, an independent banking company.

Hochtief PPP Schools Capital is a newly created entity. It holds Hochtief’s equity in Manchester Schools, Cork School of Music, North Ayrshire Schools, East Ayrshire Schools, Banger & Comber Schools and Salford Schools. All these projects are currently in their construction phase.

PFI Co has also spent a further £7.4m raising its existing stakes in three other projects. As a result, it now holds 100% of the equity in two of these: Salisbury Hospital and Forfar Community Hospital.