London, August 2, 2007─Shearman & Sterling is currently advising the PPP Arbiter, Chris Bolt, on Metronet’s request for just under £1 billion of additional funding from London Underground and on the administration of Metronet.

The London Underground PPP is widely recognised as one of the most complex PPP structures in the world. Metronet has faced financial difficulties over the difference between the costs of the multi-billion pound Tube modernisation programme and the infrastructure service charge it receives from London Underground that have ultimately led to it going into administration under the special PPP administration regime.

Chris Bright and Nick Buckworth of Shearman & Sterling’s London office have been advising the PPP Arbiter, the statutory arbiter appointed under the Greater London Authority Act, on the extraordinary review triggered by Metronet Rail BCV Limited and the request by the company for an interim adjustment to the infrastructure service charge.

The Arbiter recently announced a draft interim award to Metronet of £121 million in response to Metronet's claim for approx £500 million. The firm will continue to provide advice on the extraordinary review in which Metronet has claimed approx £1 billion in total. That review has now been deferred at the request of the administrator.

Commenting, Chris Bright, Antitrust and Regulatory consultant at Shearman & Sterling, said: “The Arbiter’s decisions affect the day to day lives of Londoners and involve complex legal issues. The Arbiter’s instruction of Shearman & Sterling demonstrates again the depth and strength of the firm’s UK regulatory practice.”

Additional legal advice was provided by partners Matthew Readings (LO-AT), Clifford Atkins (LO-EF), Ian Harvey Samuel (LO-EF) and associates James Webber (LO-AT), Cem Celiker (LO-PDF), Gregor Page (LO-PDF),Tom Bainbridge (LO-AT) and George Milton (LO-AT).