CMS Hasche Sigle advises on funding of the first comprehensive PPP project for a prison

The first public private partnership (PPP) to build and operate a prison for 650 long-term prisoners has been set up in Burg-Madel (Saxony-Anhalt). The project agreements with the state of Saxony-Anhalt and funding agreements with the banks were signed on 19 December 2006 in Magdeburg. CMS Hasche Sigle acted for the funding banks in the transaction with a project volume of around 100.000.000 Euros.

For the first time construction, facility management and non-state duties associated with the operation of a prison will be conveyed to a private operator for the life cycle of the building.

"We are particularly delighted to have been able to make our contribution to this PPP project which is unique within Germany. Funding has been realised by transferring the full risk to the private operator in contrast to the majority of the school PPPs in the past" commented Dr Christian Scherer-Leydecker, partner with CMS Hasche Sigle in Cologne, who lead the team acting for the banks.

Projektgesellschaft Justizvollzug Burg, the project company sponsored by Bilfinger Berger BOT GmbH and Kötter Justizdienstleistungen GmbH & Co. KG, will be responsible for operation. The construction and operating services will be handled by Bilfinger Berger AG, HSG Technischer Service GmbH and Kötter Justizdienstleistungen GmbH & Co. KG.

The bank consortium comprising Commerzbank AG, Nord / LB and HSH Nordbank were advised by CMS Hasche Sigle.

Advisor to bank consortium:
CMS Hasche Sigle
Dr Christian Scherer-Leydecker
(Leading Partner, PPP/Projects)
Dr Herbert Wiehe (Banking)
Dr Jörg Mucke (Banking)
Martin Krause (Construction)
Stefan El-Barudi (PPP/Projects)
Dr Roman Jordans (Banking)

Contact CMS Hasche Sigle:

Dr Christian Scherer-Leydecker, partner
Tel.: +49 (0) 221 7716 -116
Christian.Scherer-Leydecker@cms-hs.com

About CMS Hasche Sigle:

CMS Hasche Sigle is one of the leading German law firms with more than 450 lawyers. It covers the entire area of commercial law and provides legal advice to major German and international companies from a wide spectrum of industry. CMS Hasche Sigle operates at all the major business centres. It has offices in Berlin, Cologne, Duesseldorf, Frankfurt, Hamburg, Leipzig, Munich, Stuttgart, Chemnitz, Dresden, Brussels, Belgrade, Moscow and Shanghai.

CMS Hasche Sigle has teams of advisors experienced in the fields of both infrastructure and structural engineering for PPP projects. For example CMS Hasche Sigle's lawyers are advising on PPP projects for the federal motorways (A models), municipal road Harsewinkel, schools in Cologne, the TZ Heiterblick in Leipzig, and schools in Halle (which was signed on 15 December 2006).

CMS Hasche Sigle is a partnership of lawyers and tax consultants; for register details / list of partners see www.cms-hs.com

CMS Hasche Sigle is a member of CMS, an alliance of leading independent European law firms. With over 595 partners, a total of 2,000 lawyers and tax consultants and around 4,200 support staff we advise our clients at commercial locations in 47 business centres in Europe and further afield on legal and tax issues.

Local strength, legal and tax advice tailored to the requirements of the market combined with a substantial amount of business and organisational integration form the basis for high-quality international legal advice.

In addition to CMS Hasche Sigle, the following firms are also members of the CMS alliance: CMS Adonnino Ascoli & Cavasola Scamoni (Italy), CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo (Spain), CMS Bureau Francis Lefebvre (France), CMS Cameron McKenna LLP (Great Britain), CMS DeBacker (Belgium), CMS Derks Star Busmann (the Netherlands), CMS von Erlach Henrici (Switzerland) and CMS Reich-Rohrwig Hainz (Austria). CMS has 57 offices in 23 countries in Western and Central Europe, North and South America, Asia and North Africa.

For further information on CMS Hasche Sigle see www.cms-hs.com and on the CMS alliance see http://www.cmslegal.com.