19 January 2010 - Gide Loyrette Nouel Paris advises on the PPP for Highway Maintenance Centres (Centres d’Entretien et d’Intervention - CEI):

The French Ministry of Ecology, Energy, Sustainable Development and the Sea (MEEDDM) and the Eirenea company signed a partnership agreement on 14 January 2010 concerning the setting up of 63 roads maintenance centres dedicated to the regional roads agencies (Directions Interrégionales des Routes).

In compliance with a law of 13 August 2004, the State has transferred responsibility for some 18,000 kilometres of roads and 30,000 jobs to the local government assemblies (conseils généraux). Following this reform, the MEEDDM is now organised into 11 inter-departmental roads agencies (Directions Interdépartementales des Routes - DIR).

The DIRs have to meet major new needs in terms of real estate. To address these issues, the MEEDDM has decided to enter into a public-private partnership (PPP). This agreement sets out the financing, design, construction, maintenance and management services of the 63 roads maintenance centres in France.

Following a competitive dialogue procedure opened on 30 July 2008, the partnership agreement was concluded on 14 January 2010 with Eirenea, a company set up specially for the project by DV Construction and Exprimm (Groupe Bouygues), FIDEPPP (an investment fund managed by Natixis Environnement & Infrastructures) and Dutch Infrastructure Fund (DIF) B.V. (a Dutch investment fund).

Groupe Bouygues, FIDEPPP and DIF were advised by Gide Loyrette Nouel. From the launch of the competitive dialogue to the conclusion of the financing Gide Loyrette Nouel provided the expertise of a team headed by Thomas Courtel and Christine Van Gallebaert (partners) with Mathilde Bonnet, Marie Bouvet-Guiramand, Estelle Carrère, Antoine de La Gatinais (partner), Herlina Lo and Agathe Lesaffre.