Eiffage and JOHANN BUNTE conclude contract for PPP infrastructure project A3

A team led by Klaus Weinand-Härer, Partner at Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek, advised A3 Nordbayern consortium consisting of Eiffage S.A. and JOHANN BUNTE Bauunternehmung GmbH & Co. KG on issues relating to tax law in the procurement procedure for the A3 highway project. Jointly with JOHANN BUNTE, Eiffage has entered into a 30-year public-private partnership for extension, operation, and maintenance of the 76 km-long highway section between Biebelried and Fürth/Erlangen. The A3 project is the largest PPP infrastructure project ever commissioned in Germany.
 
The contract was awarded by the Highway Directorate Northern Bavaria on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure. A3 Nordbayern GmbH & Co. KG, which was established specifically for the project, will be responsible for planning, the extension from four to six lanes, operation and maintenance, as well as partial financing of these services. The private partner will receive monthly payments, whose amounts will to a large part depend on the availability of the project route.

Construction work will be carried out by a construction joint venture consisting of Eiffage Infra-Bau and JOHANN BUNTE Bauunternehmung. Construction will commence on May 1, 2020, with completion of the highway section scheduled for November 2025. The total construction volume is some EUR 1.5 billion.
 
Financing in the amount of about EUR 1.2 billion was underwritten by the European Investment Bank (EIB) as well as DEKA, DZ, KFW-Ipex, HELABA, LBBW, MEAG, and MUFG.
 
Eiffage is one of Europe’s leading construction and concessions companies. The group’s activities are organized around the construction, real estate and urban development, civil engineering, metal, roads, energy, and concessions sectors. Thanks to the experience of more than 72,500 employees, Eiffage generated revenue of EUR 18.1 billion in 2019, almost 26% of which was generated outside France.

 Bunte is one of the leading German construction contractors in Germany. It is operating in the business areas of earthworks and road construction, asphalt production, railway construction, civil engineering, hydraulic engineering, and bridge construction to building construction. The company is characterized by the implementation of complex and demanding large-scale projects. Bunte employs some 1,700 employees, generating annual revenue of some EUR 600 million.

Counsel to Eiffage
Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek:
Klaus Weinand-Härer (Lead, Tax), Frankfurt
Dipl.-Finw. Yvonne Hundsdörfer (Tax), Stuttgart
Adam Brockmann (Tax), Frankfurt