Balfour Beatty has started a sell-off of its PPP assets with the announcement of the disposal of its 50% interest in the Pinderfields and Pontefract Hospital PPP project in West Yorkshire.

In August 2014 Balfour Beatty published a review of the Directors’ Valuation of the PPP portfolio, which resulted in the UK portfolio valuation increasing by 63% to £801 million, and the total portfolio increasing in value by 46% to £1,051 million, as at June 2014.

The sale of Pinderfields to the current co-shareholder, a subsidiary of HICL Infrastructure Company Limited, for £61.5 million exceeded management’s expectations, generating a gain on disposal of £42.2 million. The proceeds exceed the revised the August asset re-rating by £13.5 million, an uplift of 28%.

Ian Rylatt, CEO of Balfour Beatty Investments, said:

"This disposal supports the substantial increase in the Directors’ Valuation of the PPP portfolio, whilst also demonstrating that the valuation maintains a level of prudence. We continue to see a strong pipeline of opportunities and therefore, in line with our strategy of recycling equity, the proceeds will be invested in new projects as we continue to diversify our business.”