The French Ministry of Defence has chosen a Bouygues-led consortium for the development of its future headquarters on the 16-hectare Balard site, south of the 15th arrondissement of Paris.

Bouygues was one of three consortiums which participated in the tender to build the complex, the other two being French construction groups Eiffage and Vinci. The winning syndicate includes Bouygues' construction arm, Sodexo, Dalkia, as well as investors South Europe Infrastructure Equity Finance (SEIF) and FIDEPPP, an investment fund of Caisses d'épargne and Natixis. French state-owned financial institution Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations will retain a minority stake of 34%.

The French ministry of defence unveiled plans in 2009 to bring together its different Paris offices in one site in Balard. The government also said it intended to sell up to EUR 1 bn worth of assets in the Paris region to finance the construction.

The new head office featuring 130,000 m2 of space will be developed through a Public Private Partnership and will consist of two buildings designed by architect Nicolas Michelin. The construction syndicate is expected to sign the contact agreement by the end of April, and construction work is due to start in January 2012, with completion planned for June 2014.