The government’s schools capital agency has shortlisted six bidders for the role to fund its privately-financed school building programme

Schoold design

The Education Funding Agency said today that six bidders have been shortlisted to fund the ‘aggregator’ financing model for its Pf2 schools programme.

The aggregator model will use an organisation to provide debt funding for all of the EFA’s privately-financed schools batches, rather than each batch having to secure its own funding.

The EFA adopted the aggregator model after it had struggled to raise long-term debt funding for its Pf2 programme.

The six shortlisted bidders are:

  • Allianz and Uberior (Abacus)
  • Amber and International Public Partnerships Limited
  • Barclays Infrastructure Fund, 3i and Blackrock
  • InfraRed and RBC
  • NIBC
  • Rock Infrastructure and RBS (Lyceum)

These six bidders have now been invited to submit outline proposals to the EFA.

The EFA said this second stage will conclude in November, at which time three will be selected to proceed to the next stage, with the ultimate aim of concluding the process in mid-2014.

The EFA is procuring five batches of Pf2 schools covering the North-east; North-west; Yorkshire; Midlands; and Hertfordshire, Luton and Reading.