By Neetha Mahadevan
FRANKFURT--Germany's Hochtief AG (Hot.XE) said Tuesday its
subsidiary Leighton Holdings Ltd. received two contracts worth
EUR1.85 billion ($2.4 billion) to build and operate rail services
and a prison.
As part of the first contract, two of Leighton's subsidiaries
will design, finance and build the North West Rail Link. Leighton's
units Thiess and John Holland in a joint venture with Dragados,
were already working on another contract worth $1.15 billion for
the link, since last year, to construct the tunnels and excavate
new underground stations for Sydney.
"The Federal Government's objective is to catalyze $125 billion
in new infrastructure spending by the end of the decade, and a
large part of this is expected to be delivered through public
private partnership's, which presents a significant opportunity for
Leighton," Leighton Holdings Chief Executive Marcelino Fernandez
Verdes said.
The second contract is in Melbourne, where Leighton's unit John
Holland, as part of a joint venture, will build and operate a
prison for about 1,000 inmates. Leighton's share in the contract is
around EUR450 million.
The combined value of the contracts for Leighton and its
partners in Australia is EUR3 billion.
Write to Neetha.Mahadevan at Neetha.Mahadevan@wsj.com
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