During December 2008, an invitation to tender was issued for what was referred to as 'partnership contract' to construct LGV Bretagne-Pays de la Loire; the first round of bids were submitted by May 2009. On 19 June 2009, RFF President Hubert du Mesniland announced that, following an assessment of the competing bids submitted, a total of three groups had been short-listed: a consortium led by Bouygues TP, Eiffage, and a consortium led by Vinci Concessions. By this point, RFF had provided the three selected groups with further technical documentation on the project, while the completion of the full consultation documents was still pending. The final bids from the shortlisted firms were received in advance of 13 October 2009. On 18 January 2011, an RFF spokesperson announced that Eiffage had been selected as the preferred bidder for the project. Reportedly, it had won on the basis of five criteria: cost, the financing package's assessed robustness, technical quality and environmental impact of the proposed work, the timetable for construction activity, and the opportunities available to third party small and medium-sized companies. At the time, it was stated that Eiffage and RFF were expected to sign a contract to finalised this arrangement during the first quarter of 2011.