This article is part of a daily series of MegaProjects articles. If you want to know more about PPP projects with a considerable size visit our MegaProjects section. You can receive them by email on a daily basis.

According to sources, Skanska has appointed Crédit Agricole for the sale of its 40% stake in the M25 highway around London, UK.

This decision comes after backers failed to refinance their £1.3 billion (US$1866 million) debt.

In 2008 the company along with its partners, Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Egis was selected as the preferred bidder to develop the highway under the private finance initiative (PFI) program.

The project comprises renovation and widening of two sections in the North East and North West quadrants of the M25 North of London. A total of 63 km are being widened from three to four lanes in each direction, much of the widening work is already done. The widening is between junctions 16 to 23 and 27 to 30. 

The project involves the design, construction, financing, operation and maintenance of the M25 motorway for 30 years for the British Highways Agency. The operation and maintenance undertaking is being carried out by joint venture between Balfour Beatty, Atkins and Egis.

The project was founded through: a £700 million of commercial bank debt and a £215 million EIB guarantee, a £185 million unguaranteed EIB structured finance facility and shareholder equity of £200 million. The total project investment was £1085 million (US$1557 million). In addition to the EIB, the banking group included Lloyds, Barclays, BBVA, SMBC, KfW, WestLB, HSBC, Bayerische, Dexia, RBS, Calyon, Helaba, Mitsubishi, NAB, Natixis and Société Générale. 

HSBC acted as financial advisor for the selected team, while PricewaterhouseCoopers acted as financial advisor for the British Highways Agency.

The M25 is one of the world’s busiest motorways, also known as the London Orbital Motorway, connects the entire Greater London. Up to 200,000 vehicles per day use the most heavily trafficked sections.