McGill University Health Centre’s Glen Campus receives PFI Award for PPP Deal of the Year (Americas) from Thomson Reuters

By bdeditor On Feb 7, 2011

Thomson Reuters awarded its 2010 PFI Award for PPP Deal of the Year (Americas) to the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC), Groupe immobilier santé McGill and Infrastructure Québec for the financing of the new MUHC Glen Campus project. The prize was awarded at the PFI Awards Dinner held on January 26 in London, U.K.

The combination bank/bond financing for the new McGill University Health Centre in Montréal expanded the universe of PPP investors to fund the largest greenfield hospital project in Canada despite the challenge of a lengthy 51-month construction period.

The financial advisors for Groupe immobilier santé McGill, SNC-Lavalin Capital and Investec North America Limited, chose Scotiabank, Dexia, BNP Paribas, CIBC, Crédit Agricole, RBS, and SMBC to handle the bank portion and Scotia Capital, Casgrain and Dexia to underwrite the bond issue.

The financing program received great investor demand for the bond portion. The amortising bonds, which mature in 2044, were priced to yield 290 GBX over the benchmark. The bank loan portion of the financing was priced at 225 GBX over Libor. The bond issue raised 764 million from more than 50 investors.

A consortium led by SNC-Lavalin with its partner Innisfree will develop the 300,000-square-metre, 500-bed facility under a DBFM contract comprising a 30 year operating period.

“Rare are the opportunities to create a physical environment that will encourage the transformation of health care for generations, but the McGill University Health Centre’s Glen Campus is one of them,” noted the Hon. Arthur T. Porter, MUHC Director General and CEO. “It takes vision to invest in it, to innovate with its potential in mind and to bring personal ideas to bear not only on what that environment could look like but also how people could make it thrive. The Thomson Reuters award for our PPP transaction is yet another testament that this vision and my objectives for our organization are coming to life.”

“The award is in recognition of the innovative financing put in place by Groupe immobilier santé McGill, composed of SNC-Lavalin and Innisfree, as part of the overall project mandate. The novel aspect of this financing is the massive contribution from the bond portion in combination with the bank portion,” added Gilles Laramée, Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer, SNC-Lavalin Group Inc. “The award also confirms SNC-Lavalin’s and its partners’ ability to structure financing that is adapted to market conditions.”

“The Glen Campus PPP construction venture is one of the largest hospital infrastructure projects in the world. This award confirms that meticulous management and planning leads to excellence. Completing this project gives the Montréal area just the kind of economic boost it needs and will help provide our citizens with world-class health care at the cutting edge of technology. We look forward to the opening of the McGill University Health Care Glen Campus with excitement and pride,” adds Michelle Courchesne, Minister responsible for Government Administration, Chair of the Conseil du trésor and Minister responsible for Infrastructure Québec.