Pátria Investimentos, the Brazilian fund manager 40% owned by The Blackstone Group, has closed its second infrastructure fund just short of $1.2bn, beating a $1bn target. The fund is jointly sponsored by Pátria and Promon, a Brazilian engineering consulting firm.
Drawing on an existing partnership, Dutch fund manager DIF and GreenYellow, a French renewable energy developer, have added a further four French solar photovoltaic projects to the nine that they already jointly owned.
Isolux Corsán chairman Luis Delso met with Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff to discuss Isolux’s plans to list its recently formed worldwide concessions unit on the Brazilian Stock Exchange. The business has a capital expenditure of €7.5bn for all the projects in which it is currently involved.
Aviva Investors, the London-based asset management division of the insurance and pension provider, has announced the first closing of a European renewable energy fund in partnership with SachsenFonds, the Munich-based asset management company.
‘The most straightforward way of dealing with current PFI contracts is for the government to buy up the debt (and possibly also the equity) once the construction stage is over,’ the Treasury Select Committee, a parliamentary body, suggests in a new report.
If infrastructure, like the wider economy, had its private sector debt bubble peaking in 2007, then, like in the wider economy, it should only be a matter of time before its own sovereign debt crisis bursts onto the scene.
The German developer said the sale process for its airports division is in ‘full swing’ and confirmed reception of offers from interested bidders. A total of four consortia are thought to have submitted bids for the airports unit, with the sale expected to conclude later this year.
UK-based international developer Balfour Beatty is optimistic about prospects in Australia, Canada and emerging markets in Asia and the Middle East. But the firm is concerned by difficulties in its home market and the US.
In a positive sign for the syndication market, three banks – BBVA, Credit Agricole and Natixis – have closed an oversubscribed syndication of £236m of senior secured credit facilities for the SITA South Tyne & Wear waste project.
The consortium has yet to be finalised and could still include other members. Teams led by Ferrovial and Global Infrastructure Partners are also said to be coalescing to bid for the privatisation of airports in Madrid and Barcelona. The government is targeting an upfront payment of €5.3bn for the two airports.
The investment, INPP’s ‘largest single commitment to date’, will see the listed fund acquire stakes in 48 projects from the now-defunct Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme. The purchase will add to INPP’s existing 106 schools, with schools now comprising 32% of its portfolio value.
Funds managed by the private equity investor have acquired 11 wind farms from ACS as part of the latter’s ongoing sale of its renewables portfolio. To date, ACS has sold 25 wind farms for close to €932m.
The Canadian pension invested C$9.5bn in infrastructure in the quarter to June 30 2011, a close to 36% increase on the C$6.1bn it invested in the asset class during the previous comparable period. Infrastructure now amounts to 6.2% of the pension’s C$153bn portfolio.
The Swiss private markets investor has acquired a stake in Madrileña Red de Gas, the Spanish gas distribution company that was bought by Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners and Galp Energia in an €800m deal last year.
Southeastern Asset Management, which played a prominent role in ACS’ takeover of Hochtief earlier this year, has acquired 3.07% of Ferrovial, a stake which has a market value of roughly €166m. Spain’s del Pino family is the developer’s largest shareholder with 45.57% of Ferrovial’s shares.