BASIS POINT-ABN, Leighton eye A$1 bln hospital contract

SYDNEY, May 30 (Reuters Basis Point) - ABN AMRO Australia and Leighton Holdings Ltd's (LEI.AX) Thiess unit are set to win a contract worth up to A$1 billion ($952 million) with Sydney's Royal North Shore hospital, sources said.

The consortium, named Infrashore Partnership, will fund the project, which will be a public-private partnership (PPP) to finance, re-develop and maintain the hospital, with bank debt led by ABN, the sources said.

The hospital's medical services will continue to be provided by the New South Wales state government.

The team is expected to beat bids from Babcock & Brown Ltd (BNB.AX) and Bovis Lend Lease's (LLC.AX) Pinnacle Healthcare consortium, as well as the Plenary Health bid from Plenary Group and builder Laing O'Rourke.

A spokesman for Leighton declined to comment ahead of an expected formal announcement by the New South Wales government, which is being advised on the project by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

A deal would be the second PPP win for Thiess in two weeks, after it was part of the winning consortium for the A$4.2 billion Brisbane Airport Link in Queensland. ($1=A$1.05) (Reporting by Sharon Klyne; Editing by James Thornhill)