Bank of Ireland wins prestigious project finance award

Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking today (21 December 2005) announced that the Richmond Airport Vancouver (RAV) rail project in Vancouver, Canada has won the 'Infrastructure Deal of the Year (Americas) award in the Project Finance International Annual Awards 2005. Bank of Ireland was one of three mandated lead arrangers on this project. The two other MLA banks in the Can$600m financing were Societe Generale and Norddeutsche Landesbank Gironzentrale.

The high profile deal was a Can $1.8bn project to develop a new light rail system from the town of Richmond, northwards to central Vancouver, with a link to Vancouver International Airport. The system will be operational in time for the Winter Olympics, which takes place in the region in 2010, and will provide a key transport link to relieve congested routes.

Speaking at the announcement Adrian Olsen, Head of Global Project Finance, Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking said: "We had specifically targeted the Canadian Public Private Partnership (PPP) market, due to our experience in PPP/concession financing in Europe, including light rail systems. This was our first major lead deal in Canada and we are delighted to have this project recognized at a global level by Project Finance International's annual awards. We are proud to be involved with such a strong and committed sponsor as SNC-Lavalin who will deliver this exciting project to materially enhance the infrastructure of the City of Vancouver and the Province of British Columbia in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics."

The awards will be presented at a dinner in the Dorchester Hotel in London on 25 January.

Ends

For further information please contact:

Anne Mathews
Media Relations Manager
Group Corporate Communications
Bank of Ireland
Tel: +353 1 6043836
Mob: +353 87 246 0358

Carol Gregory
Marketing Manager
Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking
Ph: 353 1 6044091

Notes to Editor:

Bank of Ireland Corporate Banking's Global Project Finance team was established in 1996 and is engaged in arranging, underwriting and participating in project finance transactions in Ireland, the UK, Continental Europe, the Middle East and North America. It currently has a deal book of over 100 transactions amounting to over €2.5bn.

It focuses on the three main sectors of Infrastructure, Oil & Gas and Energy. We have a particular emphasis on Private Finance Initiatives (PFI) and Public Private Partnerships (PPP) where it is recognised as one of the top 5 banks in the Project Finance London market.

The Bank's Global Finance team is staffed by 25 dedicated professionals. It has teams based in London and Greenwich, Connecticut as well as a portfolio team in Dublin. These team members have wide-ranging international structuring and monitoring experience which gives them the expertise and ability to meet the project finance requirements of both Irish and international clients alike.