24 September 2018  |  Schiphol

DIF consortium selected as preferred bidder for Belgian Liege tram PPP

DIF is pleased to announce that the Tram’Ardent consortium has been announced preferred bidder for the availability based public-private partnership contract, involving the design, financing, construction and maintenance of the first tramway line in Liège, Belgium. The consortium consists of DIF Infrastructure V, together with its partners Colas Projects, Colas Belgium, Colas Rail Belgium and Spanish rolling stock manufacturer Construcciones y Auxiliar de Ferrocarriles (CAF). The authority partner is the Walloon Transport Operator.

With a total length of 11.7 km, 90% of which is in a reserved lane section, Liège’s first tramway line will serve 21 stations, connecting the Sclessin multimodal station, in the southwest of Liège, to the city of Herstal, in the northeast, via the high-speed train station and Saint Lambert Square.

The consortium is responsible for the design, financing, construction and maintenance of the tramway. The consortium will be in charge of the design and build of the electrified rail network, the creation of a maintenance and storage centre, and the development of 240,000 m² of surrounding urban space. CAF will, in particular, supply the rolling stock as part of the consortium. Closing is expected before the end of the year and construction is to be completed by the second half of 2022.

The consortium is advised by Natixis (financial) and DLA piper (legal).

About DIF

DIF is an independent infrastructure fund manager, with €5.6 billion of assets under management across seven closed-end infrastructure funds and several co-investment vehicles. DIF invests in greenfield and brownfield infrastructure assets located primarily in Europe, North America and Australasia through two complementary strategies:

  • DIF Infrastructure V targets equity investments in public-private partnerships (PPP/PFI/P3), concessions, regulated assets and renewable energy projects with long-term contracted or regulated income streams that generate stable and predictable cash flows.
  • DIF Core Infrastructure Fund I targets equity investments in small to mid-sized infrastructure assets in the energy, transportation and telecom sectors with mid-term contracted income streams that generate stable and predictable cash flows.

DIF has over 100 professionals in eight offices, located in Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London, Luxembourg, Madrid, Paris, Sydney and Toronto. Please see www.dif.eu for further information on DIF.

For further information, please contact:

Paul Nash
Partner, Head of PPP/Infrastructure
Email: p.nash@dif.eu

Allard Ruijs
Partner, Head of Investor Relations and Business Development
Email: a.ruijs@dif.eu

Trams at a station