First project under a six-year agreement with the city

Essen, Germany – HOCHTIEF subsidiary Leighton has been awarded a contract to extend the sewer system in Melbourne. John Holland, a company in the Leighton Group, is to construct tunneled sewers with a total length of eight kilometers in the Northern suburbs for the Melbourne Water Corporation. The contract represents a volume of almost EUR 187 million.

For John Holland, the contract is the first project under a six-year agreement with the city of Melbourne. To meet ongoing population growth in the metropolis, the existing sewer system has to be extended and modernized. In the next six years, the HOCHTIEF subsidiary will perform the entire spectrum of construction services. The resulting projects will be remunerated additionally, but will be negotiated separately.

HOCHTIEF is one of the leading international providers of construction-related services. With nearly 47,000 employees and a sales volume of EUR 15.51 billion in FY 2006, the company is represented in all the world‘s major markets. In the USA, the biggest construction market in the world, HOCHTIEF is the No. 1 general builder via its subsidiary Turner. With its Group company Leighton, HOCHTIEF is market leader in Australia. The HOCHTIEF service offering in the fields of development, construction, services, concessions and operation covers the entire value chain of construction. Further information is available at www.hochtief.com.

Leighton Holdings Limited is the parent company of Australia’s largest contracting and project development group, which includes subsidiaries Thiess, John Holland, Leighton Contractors, Leighton International, Leighton Asia, and Leighton Properties. Leighton Group companies offer a broad range of construction, mining, and operations and maintenance services to the infrastructure, property and resources markets, and often take a concession role. With over 25,000 employees, the Group’s operations are spread all around the Asia-Pacific region on projects in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, Sri Lanka, India and the Arabian Gulf. Further information is available at www.leighton.com.au.