Aravis Energy, a Zurich-based venture capital firm, has sold LuciaWind, a Spanish wind farm operator, to Swiss utility EBM. The deal is illustrative of the trend for entrepreneurs and VC firms to roll up renewable energy plants into portfolios they can sell to utilities and large infrastructure funds.
EBITDA growth of 11.2% and “robust” asset performance has left 3i Infrastructure with a war chest of £314m “to invest in a strong pipeline of opportunities”.
The advisory company running the day-to-day activities of the EU-focused €1.5bn Marguerite infrastructure fund has hired David Harrison, formerly of Macquarie, to serve as chief financial officer and William Pierson, a former partner at Santander Infrastructure Capital, to be the firm’s managing director for energy investments.
The emerging markets specialist has launched a new energy supply and services business in tandem with Singapore-listed corporate KS Energy, which is chaired by Indonesian entrepreneur Kris Wiluan.
Recent vintages' ultimate performance will depend in part on their ability to refinance portfolio company debt, Chris Ailman recently told PEI.
Morrison & Co and Craigs Investment Partners’ social infrastructure vehicle has raised NZ$41m from its IPO, about 33% of the $125m they originally intended to raise from the share offering.
The UK bank is in talks with investors to gauge their support for a new infrastructure fund that would target investments across Europe.
Spanish transport minister José Blanco has signed a protocol with public and private financial institutions to help fund his €17bn infrastructure plan. About 42% of the funds will come from public institutions with the private sector expected to foot the bill for the remaining 58%.
Arcus Infrastructure Partners reports “very good progress” with its refinancing of portfolio company Angel Trains as three UK rolling stock firms look to take advantage of bond market enthusiasm.
Eiffage has dropped the idea of a capital increase to service debt for toll road APRR while preserving its credit rating. This was a solution that Macquarie, which jointly owns APRR with Eiffage, did not support. The two firms have now agreed on a dividend payment that will allow them to service some €80m in debt.
Arcus European Infrastructure Fund, RREEF and Peel Ports have had their third offer to acquire UK ports operator Forth Ports rejected by the company. The consortium had increased its bid from £612m to around £643m but Forth Ports thinks the offer still ‘falls far short’ of its true value.
Guarantees made by Russia to clinch its first PPPs may not be conventional, but they are necessarily pragmatic.
Debt-laden Portugal is said to be accelerating plans to sell a 30% stake in REN – the operator of the country’s electricity and natural gas transmission networks – in which the government owns 51%. The sale could net it at least €450 million at current share prices.
Ten Iberian banks and the European Investment Bank have provided a debt package of €1.2bn to close one of the last projects that forms part of Portugal’s €5bn roads programme. Despite its recent downgrade and pressure from the financial markets, pricing on the funding remained the same.
The Russian development bank says it will buy back up to 70% of a planned $340m bond issue to help fund the Moscow-St. Petersburg highway – the first Russian road PPP to reach financial close. It also said it will continue negotiations to get the EBRD on board the project.