The three were selected by Halton Borough Council from expressions of interest received from six groups in December 2011.
The three successful teams are:
- Balfour Beatty, Bouygues Travaux Publics, Egis Projects consortium, comprising equity members Balfour Beatty, Bouygues Travaux Publics and Egis Projects;
- Merseylink consortium, comprising equity members Macquarie Capital Group, Bilfinger Berger Project Investments, Vialia Sociedad Gestora de Concesiones de Infraestructuras and FCC Construcción;
- MGL consortium, comprising equity members Galliford Try Investments, Hochtief PPP Solutions and Iridium Concesiones de Infraestructuras.
The selection has been based on the published pre-qualification criteria where the shortlisted bidders were awarded the highest scores.
The successful candidates will now be invited to compete for the contract to design, build, finance and operate a new toll bridge over the River Mersey between Runcorn and Widnes and associated work in the towns. The value of the construction phase, including land, is estimated at £942 million.
“We have attracted world class construction groups that have come together to compete for this prestigious contract,” said Halton Borough Council leader Rob Polhill. “I look forward to announcing the eventual winner and the commencement of construction later next year.”
Mersey Gateway project director Steve Nicholson said: “We were delighted with the quality and the quantity of the submissions we received. Each of the six groups we evaluated met our requirements but we set out to limit the procurement process to three bidding groups and we have maintained this approach so that we can reduce bid costs whilst running an effective competition.”
He added: “During the next year the project team will work with the shortlisted bidders to develop proposals that deliver quality and value for money on behalf of the taxpayer.
