Public Private Partnerships
Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) involve government engaging the private sector in public service delivery. They cover the full spectrum of contractual arrangements from conventional procurement, such as 'Design & Construct', through to pure outsourcing.
Recent government PPP initiatives and guidelines have focused on delivery mechanisms that fall between these two extremes of private sector participation and risk acceptance. Their principal features include the delivery of services normally provided by government, the creation of assets through private sector financing and ownership control, and government support through contribution of land, capital works, risk sharing, revenue diversion and other means. They may involve single large projects or 'bundles' of smaller projects.
Experience you can count on
This includes advising the Victorian Government on the Spencer Street Station Redevelopment, as well as consortia and financiers on a range of projects including the Mitcham-Frankston Freeway, Sydney's Cross City Tunnel, NSW Schools Project, the Lane Cove Tunnel and Victorian Prisons, Metropolitan Mobile Radio and Emergency Alerting System Projects.
Our PPP team numbers more than 25 partners in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth. All have significant experience in project finance and infrastructure work, having been heavily involved in recent BOO/BOOT, privatisation and privately financed infrastructure projects. They have a strong track-record in drafting and negotiating key documents, in particular, with respect to risk allocation issues.
Allens Arthur Robinson has participated in the various state government working parties assembled for the development of PPP concepts. One of our partners was also invited to attend special meetings in the UK on the Glasgow Education Project 2002, the largest PPP in the UK education sector.
International expertise
Many of our lawyers have worked on international PPP and Private Finance Initiative (FPI) projects while working for law firms in the UK and elsewhere. Their experience covers deals such as the Manchester Metrolink Project, the Lewisham Docklands Light Rail extension, the Bridlington and Haringey schools development and refurbishment projects, and the first district general hospital to be procured under the PPP/PFI regime in Scotland.
Our 'best friends' relationship with UK-based Slaughter and May, one of the world's leading law firms, means we can also draw on the extensive PFI experience gained by that firm in the UK.
