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C -Vehicles Project

Operis acted as financial advisors to Société Générale and HSBC on the C Vehicle Private Finance Initiative (PFI) which reached financial close in June 2005.

Société Générale and HSBC were equal providers of the senior debt.

The 15 year contract reported to be worth £600 million is between the Ministry of Defence and the Amey Lex Consortium (ALC), an equal partnership between Amey, the support services specialist and Lex Defence Ltd, the defence fleet management and logistics division of RAC.

The C Vehicle programme will provide a worldwide fleet of construction plant and field mechanical handling equipment operated typically by the Royal Engineers and Royal Logistic Corps respectively. This fleet will include cranes, dump trucks, excavators, bulldozers, rough terrain forklifts and container handlers.

ALC will gradually rationalise the MoD’s fleet from over 3,800 to approximately 2,000 assets using Whole Fleet Management techniques. ALC will procure over 1,700 new assets during the contract, worth in excess of £100 million. In addition to the provision and maintenance of assets, ALC will provide the MoD with associated services, including a spares support and inventory management system, a comprehensive management information system, a technical documentation service and training services for operators and maintainers.