Construction Business News from Contract Journal UK: Ferrovial commits to BAA spending plans - 14/06/2006

Construction Business News from Contract Journal UK: Ferrovial commits to BAA spending plans - 14/06/2006: "Ferrovial commits to BAA spending plans
(14 June 2006 09:00)

Ferrovial has given its assurance that it will be committed to BAA�s 10-year, �9.5bn capital expenditure programme if its takeover of the airports operator is successful at the end of this month.
A spokeswoman for the company, which launched a �10.3bn takeover bid as part of a consortium last week, told CJ that despite reports of disruption to BAA�s frameworks and cutbacks of its �2.7bn spending plans for the expansion of Stansted Airport, Ferrovial would maintain the status quo.
The group�s acquisition vehicle, Airport Development and Investment, posted its official bid document to BAA at the end of last week.
�We will be committed to meeting all the obligations of the [aviation] White Paper and we will not be making any cutbacks to the programme,� she said. �We have to ensure that there are no capacity constraints, which means that investments will be made.�
However, the future is not so certain on BAA�s proposed �1.5bn Heathrow East project, which falls outside the White Paper�s remit; BAA has already revealed its list of suppliers to submit proposals for the early stage design and development work on the project.
Although the spokeswoman said it is still very �early stages� to talk about running BAA�s existing frameworks, she said Ferrovial is a very �effective operator� and would seek to take the �best option� for the delivery of airport infrastructure.
One source told CJ that the future of BAA�s framework contractors is �much more positive� than it would have been if the rival bidder, Goldman Sachs, had sealed the deal; Goldman Sachs"