DeCesare wins Evans concession as court overturns PCRB’s decision, blocking developer Paul Attard

Valletta Luxury Projects, the consortium led by the DeCesare family of Eden Leisure Group, has emerged victorious following a court battle over the controversial Evans Building concession, with judges reinstating the government’s original decision to award it the lucrative 65-year concession.

In a judgment, the Court of Appeal overturned the Public Contracts Review Board’s (PCRB) decision, which had annulled the award to Valletta Luxury Projects (VLP) and ordered a fresh evaluation of the bids.

The appeal was filed by VLP partners Benny Ltd and Eden Leisure Group after the PCRB concluded earlier this year that the consortium’s financial bid could not lawfully be accepted because of discrepancies between its electronic submission and its Financial Bid Form.

The PCRB had ruled that the Evaluation Committee wrongly allowed VLP to correct what it considered to be a material defect in its financial offer. It found that the consortium’s submission listed a total concession value of €1.2 million instead of the correct aggregate figure of €78 million over the concession’s 65-year duration. The Board held that this was not a correctable arithmetic error, but a substantive defect, cancelled the award and ordered a fresh evaluation of the bids.

The Court of Appeal disagreed.

The judges, led by Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti, found that the discrepancy could lawfully be corrected under the procurement rules and accepted that VLP’s bid consistently demonstrated an annual concession fee of €1.2 million throughout its financial documentation. They concluded that the Evaluation Committee had correctly requested confirmation that the total concession value over 65 years amounted to €78 million and that the clarification did not amount to submitting a new financial offer after the deadline.

The court also rejected the PCRB’s interpretation of the tender rules governing discrepancies between the official submission and the Financial Bid Form, concluding that the correction mechanism was available in these circumstances and that using it neither altered the substance of VLP’s offer nor breached the principle of equal treatment between bidders.

As a result, the Court set aside the PCRB’s decision annulling the award and its order requiring a fresh evaluation, restoring the Contracting Authority’s original decision to award the concession to Valletta Luxury Projects.

The ruling is a major blow for mega-developer Paul Attard’s Plan Group, formerly Katari Holdings, which had remained in contention after the PCRB ordered a re-evaluation of the tender. Attard is known for his close ties to Prime Minister Robert Abela and the Labour administration.

By reinstating the original award, the Court has effectively blocked Plan Group’s chances of securing the concession through a fresh assessment of the bids.