The Plenary Health consortium has been awarded a contract to finance, construct and maintain a A$1.5bn (€974m) public hospital in Australia.

Plenary Health the Melbourne-based infrastructure investor will develop the Footscray Hospital in Victoria in a public-private partnership with Western Health as the public operator of all clinical services.

The Victorian state government has awarded Plenary Health the development contract and will also maintain the hospital for 25 years following construction completion.

Construction is expected to get underway shortly, and completion is due in 2025.

The consortium includes Japanese investor Sojitz Corporation, which holds a 30% equity in the project. Plenary will hold the remaining 70%.

Plenary chief investment officer Paul Crowe said: “In bringing this project to life, the community has always been our focus and we look forward to delivering this hospital for patients and families, for staff, and the people of the western suburbs.”

Norinchukin, Mizuho Credit, Crédit Industriel et Commercial and Nippon Life are among the group of banks which will provide the debt financing for the project.

A previous version of this article incorrectly referred to the hospital by a different name.

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