£1.2bn Birmingham BSF delayed yet again

A decision on the preferred bidder for the £1.2bn Birmingham City Council Building Schools for the Future (BSF) scheme has been postponed yet again to early February.

Shortlisted bidders Bovis Lend Lease and Trillium – which is currently being sold to Telereal – will have a nail biting wait until 2 February to find out which of them has clinched the deal.

The city council had planned to announce their chosen partner in December but credit crunch fears and the imminent sale of Trillium prompted council officials to ask for further reassurances from both bidders that they could raise the necessary funding for the scheme if chosen.

A new date of 12 January was set for the announcement of preferred bidder. However the council confirmed today that that date has been pushed back to 2 February.

Council officials declined to say whether further clarification has been requested of either bidder.

In a similar development Birmingham City Council halted its £2.2bn privately financed Highways maintenance deal this week. The council has asked shortlisted bidders Amey and Birmingham Street Services to provide further reassurances of their ability to raise PFI funding for the scheme.

Partnerships for Schools recently brokered a deal with the European Investment Bank to stump up 50% of the cost of a number of BSF schemes close to financial close, due to funding problems triggered by the credit crisis. The deal agreed in principle is worth £300m.