Saudi Arabia’s Jeddah Development & Urban Regeneration Company is expected to award a consultancy contract for a public private partnership (PPP) toll road.

Consortiums led by transaction advisors submitted bids in August 2016.

They are understood to include the US’ Strategy&, part of PwC, Holland’s KPMG and the UK’s Deloitte.

The consultancy work was first tendered in 2015. The client and scope of work was subsequently changed.

A tender process for developers should now follow.

The project, referred to as Jeddah ring road, would be Saudi Arabia’s first toll road.

PPP is a key element of Saudi Arabia’s National Transformation Plan, which envisages a more important role for the private sector. PPP airports, schools and housing projects are planned, among others.

However, the Middle East has a poor track record of applying PPP to land transport.

The $3bn Mafraq Gweifat road development PPP, linking Abu Dhabi to the Saudi border, was abandoned by the Abu Dhabi Department of Transport in 2011 after more than a year of negotiations. The cancellation was attributed to high costs from developers, who declined to reduce their bid prices to a level seen as acceptable by Abu Dhabi.