The Australian investor has been named preferred bidder for the FARAC III road concession, its first Mexican project following its recent first close on its debut Mexican infrastructure fund. FARAC III is expected to be officially awarded in three weeks time.
The UK’s PPF has sketched out a 20% allocation to alternatives, which will see the £3.9bn fund invest in private equity and infrastructure funds for the first time.
Senior figures from the fund of funds industry say that consolidation in the sector is inevitable.
UK PPP arbiter Chris Bolt has set the final cost for the upgrade of London’s underground rail at £4.46bn over the next seven-and-a-half years - £460m more than the London authorities are willing to pay. Mayor Boris Johnson threatens legal action against the arbiter.
Concessionaires are expected to agree to channel refinancing gains to help mitigate the increased availability payments they will receive from roads agency Estradas de Portugal.
The Scandinavian country’s first rail PPP, worth €660m, is moving forward with the Finnish rail authority having appointed legal and financial advisers for the project earlier this month. Initial offers are expected in September this year.
Arcus European Infrastructure Fund, RREEF and Peel Ports have attempted to acquire UK ports operator Forth Ports for £612m. But Forth Ports has rejected the offer, saying it undervalues its business. The consortium is considering a higher bid with Peel Group mulling the sale of a stake in its airports business to help shore up any future bid.
Jeff Kendrew has joined Brookfield Asset Management as chief development officer of its infrastructure unit. He was previously managing director and chief executive of Australian infrastructure fund Prime Infrastructure.
Swedish construction firm Skanska has sold a stake in a Norwegian road PPP to two of its employee pension funds. The company expects to book a capital gain of €14m from the sale.
The Spanish company said in a recent statement that it is prepared to lose its concessions in Argentina and Bolivia, which account for some 2% of the company’s revenues, as political risk mounts. However, this is just a precautionary measure, a spokesman said.
Boasting $4bn in total, Alinda Capital Partners’ latest fundraising effort drew $2.5bn of support during the toughest 12 months for raising capital in living memory. Alinda managing partner Christopher Beale looks back on events in conversation with Andy Thomson.
Most-read news stories from InfrastructureInvestor.com over the past month:
Brazil’s role as host of two major sporting events could cost it an estimated $500bn over the next five years. With such a tight and expensive deadline looming, the country would do well to take a look at Mexico if it wants to get the private sector on board to help it meet the bill.
UK infrastructure group Balfour Beatty has won its first US PPP contract outside the military sector – the $123m Florida Atlantic University student accommodation project. It has also sold stakes in two Scottish PPP projects for a combined £24.3m.
The Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC), launched in October 2009 to make the application process for large UK infrastructure projects “faster, fairer and easier”, has this week begun considering applications from the energy and transport sectors.