Shareholders today green lighted Macquarie Infrastructure Group’s proposal to divide itself into two listed groups separated according to risk profile. Riskier assets will now be held by a new fund called Macquarie Atlas Roads with the more mature ones held by new vehicle Intoll.
The A$1.6bn project has become the third major Australian infrastructure PPP to collapse over the last ten years having been placed in receivership. Bond insurer MBIA, on behalf of the project’s bondholders, took the decision after the Connector Motorways consortium failed to pay interest on A$1.16 billion of outstanding debt.
Infrastructure investors should not overlook the renewables sector in 2010, which is poised to present them with some ripe investment opportunities.
Paris-based Antin Infrastructure Partners has switched its focus from transport to energy as it seeks to take advantage of improving opportunity in the latter sector. Antin, which is sponsored by BNP Paribas, posted a second close of its €1bn-target fund on €515m in late December.
Qatari Diar – fully owned by the emirate of Qatar – has become the second-largest shareholder in French construction company Vinci with a stake of between 5% and 8%. In exchange, Vinci acquires 100% of service provider Cegelec, which is set to add some €3bn in revenues to the French group.
The Southern Way consortium, comprising Bilfinger Berger, Abigroup and RBS, has been named preferred bidder for the €550m Peninsula Link – a 25-kilometre road near Melbourne. The winner will receive availability payments from the Australian authorities.
David Jackson, chief executive officer of Dubai World’s private equity business Istithmar, has resigned just over one month after the embattled state-owned conglomerate underlined its support for the company.
The India-focused private equity real estate firm has appointed Raj Inamdar as a principal in charge of creating new business initiatives as it nears the launch of its second opportunity fund.
The €1.1bn fund – formerly known as ABN Amro Global Infrastructure Fund – has rebranded itself as EISER Global Infrastructure Fund following the MBO from Fortis Investments. Chief executive Hans Meissner, the fund’s original founder, talks to InfrastructureInvestor about the buyout and EISER’s plans to launch a second, €1.1bn infrastructure fund.
The fund has increased its total commitments to €275m and welcomed four new investors, including two Dutch pension funds and two international investors. DIF is targeting a final close of €500m in April 2010 for its second infrastructure fund.
Munich police have reportedly detained two people in connection with the killing of EQT infrastructure director Dirk von Poschinger-Camphausen.
In recognition of growing international appetite for PPPs, Turner & Townsend has relocated two long-serving UK professionals to the growth markets of Canada and South Africa.
Europe’s largest insurance company could double its investments in infrastructure and other alternative asset classes – such as private equity and real estate – to €30bn. The new strategy aims to counteract lower returns on traditional investments.
PERE’s Jonathan Brasse reports from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
A state-run finance hub is planning a package of fee cuts in a bid to attract REITs and property funds in invest in the emirate. However, property experts warn it might not be enough to warrant the risk.