The consortium has beaten competition from another team led by Allied Irish Bank and Strabag to be named preferred bidder for the M17/M18 Gort to Tuam motorway public-private partnership.
The UK airports operator has almost fully repaid a £1.57bn subordinated debt facility and lowered a £2.2bn bank term loan facility to £1.75bn of outstanding debt. BAA repaid debt using new bank facilities and proceeds from a recent bond issue.
AXA Private Equity, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie are said to have submitted binding bids for the sale of Endesa’s 4,100-kilometre Spanish gas distribution network earlier this week. The deal could be worth over €700m.
Clifford Chance has replaced CMS Cameron McKenna as legal advisers to Henderson on a dispute with several pension funds over the performance of its second infrastructure fund. The pensions have given Henderson until late September to draft a compensation scheme before taking it to court.
The Japan-headquartered international banking group has launched a representative office in Bogota with the aim of gaining “more business in sectors where SMBC has a competitive edge, such as project finance”.
Many projects that are eligible for the guarantee – which can cover up to 80% of the debt used to fund public-private partnership deals – have yet to reach financial close. This has led the government to consider extending its application beyond the original closing date of December 31 2010.
Consortia led by Eurotunnel/Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley/3i, Borealis/OTPP and Cheung Kong Infrastructure are all thought to have made it through to a second round of bidding. The sale is expected to net the government between £1.5bn and £2bn.
The Italian toll road operator has successfully raised €1.5bn via two bond issues but received applications from institutional investors exceeding €4.5bn. The funds raised will allow Atlantia to fund capex and meet its refinancing needs through to 2013.
PensionDanmark has teamed up with DONG Energy to acquire a 50% stake in the Nysted offshore wind farm, in Denmark. Under the deal, DONG is providing an operating guarantee to the Danish pension in exchange for a larger share of the operating profits if current price levels increase.
AMP Capital Investors has acquired the RBS Social Infrastructure Trust, a $74m fund with a portfolio of four social infrastructure public-private partnerships. AMP said it plans to raise more equity for the fund and enlarge its portfolio with similar assets.
If infrastructure is to take the place it deserves in investment portfolios, pensions and their advisers need to think a little outside the box, argues Andy Thomson.
As the focus switches from a highly successful runner recruitment campaign to fundraising, we are delighted to report that the groundbreaking Marathon of Marathons – organised by Campbell Lutyens, PEI Media and UNICEF - has already sprinted past an incredible €1 MILLION of donations. How can you be part of the private equity industries’ most important fundraise of 2010?
If infrastructure is to take the place it deserves in investment portfolios, pensions and their advisers need to think a little outside the box.
The infrastructure secondaries opportunity is still at an embryonic stage but has "developed significantly" according to a report from Partners Group, the Swiss alternative assets manager. UK social infrastructure in particular is on the radar of investors.
Generali, Palladio Finanziaria and Veneto Banca have set up Venice European Investments, a fund targeting infrastructure and private equity. The new vehicle is starting with €400m and is aiming to reach a final close of €600m. It will replace Generali’s Valiance infrastructure fund.