The approximately £550 million project is the first project to be procured by the Welsh Government under the Mutual Investment Model ("MIM"), providing a pathfinder for future MIM projects such as the Welsh Education Partnership and the Velindre Hospital.
The project aims to upgrade the A465 road which runs across the northern edge of industrial South Wales, to provide a safe, fast and strategic east-west connection between Swansea and the English Midlands.
The Ashurst team was led by partners Terry Van Poortvliet and Paddy Boyle, and included partners Nick Hilder and Gaby Jones. They were assisted by senior associates Nicholas Monks and William Tane, and associates Alli Clark, Talor Elliott, Abigail Harvey, Ruxandra Ionescu, Claudia Sharland, Crystal Yuen and Ffion Archer.
Commenting partner Terry van Poortvliet said:
"We were delighted to assist FCC and Meridiam on such an important strategic project. Through market-leading expertise, hard work and collaboration, we were able to take this complex project to close within four months and in the midst of difficult circumstance with Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic."
The A465 project is one of a series of landmark UK road deals on which Ashurst has advised recently, including advising the sponsors of the £1.28 billion M25-motorway refinancing and Transport of London on the Silvertown Tunnel project, as well as FCC as part of the successful consortium on the Mersey Gateway PPP Project.
