Bridge project will now go ahead after over 20 years of planning and financial struggles
Construction and technology firms Kier, FCC Construcci贸n and Samsung have reached financial close on their deal with Halton Borough council to build the 拢450m Mersey Gateway bridge.
The consortium, known as Merseylink, will start construction immediately and operate the bridge for the next thirty years.
The consortium is backed by equity partners Macquarie Capital Group Limited, Bilfinger Project Investments Europe Limited, and FCC Construcci贸n.
Haydn Mursell, group finance director of Kier, said: he was 鈥減roud鈥� kier was investing in this 鈥渓andmark鈥� infrastructure project.
He added: 鈥淲e have worked closely with Halton Borough council over recent months to reach this position and we look forward to delivering the project with them over the coming years.鈥�
Steve Nicholson, interim chief executive of the Mersey Gateway Crossings Board and the project director leading up to financial close, said: 鈥淲hen we set out our procurement approach three years ago we deliberately chose a strategy that would allow our potential private sector partners to innovate, save money for the public purse and add value to the project. Merseylink has delivered on all three fronts.鈥�
Merseylink was first appointed as preferre