Ferrovial wins £340m waste water deal

Amey, a UK subsidiary of Spain’s Ferrovial, has won a £340 million (€413 million; $568 million) waste water contract in Scotland.

The company, which partnered with US developer Black & Veatch on the deal, has been selected as preferred bidder by Scottish Water to design, build and manage sewer infrastructure serving more than five million of the utility’s customers. The contract runs for seven years.

The deal marks a busy few months for Ferrovial’s UK unit, with Amey winning extensions to two contracts to maintain sewer pipes and provide water services – worth £415 million – last December. These included a five-year contract in the north west of Britain for United Utilities and a contract of similar duration for Severn Trent Water.

The group also won significant business in Scotland last August, when the Scottish Roads Partnership, a consortium formed of Meridiam Infrastructure, Scottish Widows, Amey and Cintra, was chosen as preferred bidder to design, build, finance and operate chunks of motorway between Glasgow and Edinburgh.

The grouping last week announced its intention to raise £359.6 million worth of debt to finance the project, comprising £174.8 million of senior secured fixed-rate bonds and a £174.8 million senior secured fixed-rate loan from the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Earlier this week, reports also stated that Ferrovial had offered to buy Aberdeen, Glasgow and Southampton airports from its partners in Heathrow Airport Holdings (HAH). Spanish paper Expansion said that the firm had discussed a joint bid, believed to be worth around £800 million, with fund managers including Macquarie and IFM Investors.

Ferrovial, Macquarie and IFM Investors all declined to comment.