Wednesday, June 15, 2005

John Laing plc (John Laing) has today announced that a consortium consisting of Laing Roads, Skanska BOT AB from Sweden and Lemminkäinen Group from Finland has been appointed preferred bidder for the €335m E18 Muurla–Lohja Motorway Project. John Laing will invest approximately £9m in the concession company.

This project includes detailed road design, construction and maintenance as well as financing. The length of the agreement period is 21 years from the date the road is opened to traffic. This is the first project of a broad series introduced by the Ministerial Working Group in Finland last year.

Andy Friend, Chief Executive of John Laing plc said:

“We are delighted to be announcing our second major project in Finland, on which we expect to reach financial close in the next quarter. At that stage we will be an investor in three of the four PPP roads that have been awarded so far in the Nordic region. This is further evidence that deployment of the business model for PPP Investment in public infrastructure is now gathering pace in Europe outside the UK.”

For further information, please contact:

John Laing plc
Andy Friend / Derek Potts
Tel: 020 7901 3200

Finsbury Group
Edward Orlebar / Robin Walker
Tel: 020 7251 3801

Notes to Editors

About John Laing plc

John Laing plc is the UK’s listed market leader in PPP/ PFI infrastructure projects.  It currently invests in 47 PPP/ PFI projects in the rail, roads and accommodation sectors.

Details of bid

The preferred bidder agreement is between Finnra, the Finnish Roads Administration, and the consortium, called Tieyhtiö Ykköstie. The consortium consists of Skanska BOT AB from Sweden, Laing Roads Ltd from Great Britain and Lemminkäinen Group from Finland.

The entire Muurla–Lohja section of the E18 is due to be opened in November 2008, advancing the tight schedule set up by Finnra by one year. Cost-effectiveness and optimised risk management also seem to lead to savings in investment costs. On the other hand, Finnra’s estimate for maintenance costs will be slightly exceeded. The overall expenses from the agreement remain within the purchase order authorisation of EUR 700 million granted by the Finnish Parliament.