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Caledonian Environmental Services plc this week raised L63.6m to finance construction of a waste water treatment plant in Fife, Scotland by securitising its 40 year contract to build and run the facility.
RBC Dominion Securities arranged the deal, wrapped by MBIA Assurance SA, with RBS Financial Markets as joint bookrunner.
Scottish water authorities, unlike those in England and Wales, have not been privatised. Several have used the UK government's private finance initiative (PFI) to obtain private capital to upgrade facilities to European Union standards.
The East of Scotland Water Authority, which has engaged Caledonian, was also behind the UK's first water related PFI bond in March 1999.
This week's bond finances a new 150,000 cubic metre waste water treatment works at Methil, together with ancillary pumping, sewer and sea outfall works. The contractor is a joint venture between Northumbrian Water Group plc (75%) and Degremont Ltd both subsidiaries of France's Suez Lyonnaise des Eaux, the world's largest water utility group.
The plant will be designed and built by a construction joint venture...