The joint venture's first bid will be a euro 363-million ($440-million) building program for Leeds City Council under a government initiative aimed at refurbishing and building new schools. The Treasury is expected to invest up to euro 2.9 billion ($3.5 billion) a year in tackling Britain's crumbling school infrastructure. The idea is that the private sector develops previously owned government properties and schools lease them back under a scheme known as Building Schools for the Future.

A statement by Land Securities says that the company identified the program "as a key strategic opportunity". Mill Group's Investors in the Community, or IIC, has already been shortlisted for three other school projects with an anticipated value of about euro 509 million ($617 million).

Land Securities Trillium will also acquire a 20% share in Mill Group's current fund asset management business. This administers the one private equity and two institutional funds that have invested in the existing school schemes.

"This new venture will not only accelerate our strategic move into the BSF marketplace but also substantially increase the potential scope of projects that both organizations can now target," says Ian Ellis, chief executive of Land Securities Trillium. "By combining Land Securities Trillium's financial and operational strengths and Mill Group's existing expertise and market-leading position, we are confident that we can develop a new and compelling offer to meet the growing appetite for specialist public-private partnership provision and capture a meaningful share of the Building Schools for the Future market."