The Edinburgh Evening News reported at the end of July that an end was in sight for the continued dispute between Bilfinger Berger and tie with a “mature divorce” expected “within days”. It is believed that in recent weeks there has been an improvement in relations between tie and Bilfinger and a deal was likely to be on the table to end the stalemate.
Bilfinger are reported to be prepared to provide a full breakdown of the costs and timescales involved in the project to tie soon and following that its believed the so-called “mature divorce” proceedings can be started. This would see tie offer a sum of money to Bilfinger to remove them from the consortium. Bosses at Bilfinger are confident that the figures they will provide are accurate and are not wanting to negotiate on them, although chiefs at tie are expected to try and knock the price down.
Speaking at the end of July, Transport Convener, Cllr Gordon Mackenzie, said: “We anticipated that we would have a first set of proposals this week. The week is not finished but we did not have them in time to discuss them at the tram project board meeting, but we still expect to see these proposals in the next few days. Overall, there are more positives than negatives - we've seen a substantial improvement in the approach taken by Bilfinger over the last six to eight weeks and that in itself is positive progress. Our legal and commercial position has strengthened in recent weeks."
Source: The Scotsman