John Laing Acquires Interests in PPP Projects

On February 2, 2007 affiliates of John Laing plc acquired the indirectly held interests of Macquarie Bank Limited in the Vancouver General and Abbotsford Hospital public-private partnership (PPP) projects. Under the purchase agreements, John Laing acquired an interest in two entities: Access Health Abbotsford, the company selected to design, build, finance and maintain the new $355 million Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre, and Access Health Vancouver, the company selected to design, build, finance and maintain the $95 million Gordon and Leslie Diamond Health Care Centre at Vancouver General Hospital.

John Laing is a leading project developer and investor in P3s in the UK and around the world. This is a significant transaction for John Laing as it is one of the largest secondary market transactions that the company has carried out and provides a strong foundation for the further development of John Laing's business in Canada.

John Laing was represented by a team from the Davis & Company LLP Toronto and Vancouver offices including: Ian Bendell, Don Bell, Celia Johnson, Kate Bake-Paterson, Justin Mooney, Kevin Wright, Jeff Horswill, and Tobor Emakpor. Randal Hughes and Oliver Borgers of McCarthy Tétrault LLP also advised John Laing on specific Investment Canada Act issues.
Macquarie was represented by internal counsel Kristen Jung and assisted by a team from Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, which included Jeff Merrick, J-P Bogden and Richard McDerby (infrastructure/M&A), Bill Maclagan and Kevin Zimka (tax) and Julie Soloway (competition/investment Canada). Brian Murphy of Mallesons Stephen Jaques' Sydney office advised Macquarie on Australian issues.