John Laing Increases Stake in Denver Eagle P3 Project

Winston & Strawn LLP represented Denver Rail (Eagle) Holdings Inc., a subsidiary of John Laing Ltd. (John Laing), in connection with the acquisition from Fluor Enterprises, LLC, of an additional 5% of the equity interests in the Denver Eagle P3 Project (Denver Eagle or the "Project") in Denver, Colorado for US$14M. The acquisition raises our client’s stake in the Project from 45% to 50% John Laing’s initial investment in Denver Eagle in 2010 marked its entry into the U.S. P3 market and was the first transit deal in the United States to use an availability-based payment system. Since investing in Denver Eagle, John Laing has played an active role in the delivery of the Project through construction and entirely into operations in 2019. The Project’s Last Final Completion Certificate was awarded in November 2020, formally concluding the construction phase. Designed to provide safe, affordable, and reliable transport options to Denver’s growing metropolitan area, Denver Eagle has helped to expand transit across the region with the addition of three new commuter rail lines. The Project is lauded for its strong operational track record with each commuter line averaging 95% or above reliability, and ridership of 33M across all three lines since becoming operational. Denver Eagle has continued to perform well despite the COVID-19 pandemic – the Project having held the highest level of commuter rail ridership retention in the United States throughout the pandemic.