The third of French rail agency RFF’s high-speed rail line public-private partnerships is scheduled to receive final offers from consortia comprising Bouygues, Eiffage and Vinci in mid-October.
Barra Energia, a Brazilian company backed by fund managers First Reserve and Riverstone Holdings, has agreed to acquire a 10% stake in Block BMS-8, an oil exploration block, from Shell Brasil Petroleo.
Two ministers have reportedly advised Prime Minister David Cameron that the UK should ‘look at’ the way EU procurement rules are operated. This follows news that Bombardier, which lost the Thameslink PFI bid, is shedding 1,400 UK jobs.
Ray Mills, a local government and social infrastructure specialist, has been promoted to head of infrastructure and government at PwC. The firm has announced a handful of other moves, including Stuart McKee as the new UK corporate finance leader.
3i Infrastructure, the London-listed 3i Group subsidiary, has released an interim statement showing a strong cash balance boosted by the sales of junior debt tranches in Thames Water and NGW Arqiva.
The London-based European private equity firm has so far raised €390m for its second renewable energy fund on its way to a target of €500m. The information was disclosed by HgCapital Trust, the listed investment trust which takes a minority stake in all HgCapital’s investments.
The New Zealand fund manager is entering ‘formal discussions’ over the sale of its 1.24% stake in Thames Water, the UK water utility. EPIC has also announced the ending of talks over a possible sale of its stake in Moto, the UK motorway services firm.
The global real estate services giant has recruited Umer Ahmad from Barclays as its new head of infrastructure, focusing on financial advisory services. His appointment follows the firm’s recent hire of Sir Andrew Foster as a strategic advisor on infrastructure.
The ratings agency has said in a note that the EIB’s proposals to get the capital markets back into infrastructure financing ‘would be capable of credit-enhancing PPP project bonds from low investment-grade to single-A ratings’.
Northumbrian Water announced today that it has received a non-indicative proposal for the company from Hong Kong’s Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings. The UK utility has an enterprise value of £4.4bn.
Budgetary pressures from Greece to the US force tough questions on those contemplating asset sales
Philippe Maystadt, the president of the European Investment Bank, revealed in an exclusive interview that he would like to test the bank’s initiative to credit-enhance private sector infrastructure bonds before its scheduled launch date of 2014.
The French private equity firm has invested a further €15m in Fonroche Energy following an initial €25m equity investment in April last year. Fonroche has also signed a €52m credit line with a banking syndicate led by Credit Agricole.
The new government has left the door open to re-evaluating the project with a view to cutting costs and procuring it within a different timeframe. If it decides to cancel the project, the state will have to pay around €150m in compensation to the concessionaire of the first stretch of the line.
Bosnia’s Serb Republic has issued a market teaser to gauge interest in a potential roads package. The concessions would last for 30 years and would require the private sector to build, finance and maintain over 116km of roads.