The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering investing €100m in the Meridiam Infrastructure Eastern Europe Fund. The sub-vehicle will form part of Meridiam’s second European infrastructure fund, for which it has currently raised about half of the €1bn it is targeting.
HSBC Specialist Investments has been renamed InfraRed Capital Partners. The infrastructure and real estate platform has more than $4bn of capital under management. HSBC will consider further commitments to future funds of InfraRed on a 'case by case' basis.
The National Audit Office has issued a report calling in strident terms for alternatives to the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) to be considered. PFI, which is the UK’s standard method of procurement for infrastructure projects, has come under increasing fire for allegedly failing to provide value for money.
DIF Infrastructure, the Netherlands-based infrastructure fund manager, has released details of an investment it made in a fully operational Danish accommodation project at the end of March.
In an exclusive interview with Infrastructure Investor, leading businessman Sir Gerry Robinson said that owners of infrastructure assets will be ‘forced to confront reality’ as a refinancing wall looms. Robinson recently joined start-up fund manager Ancala Partners as a founding partner.
Hermes GPE, a UK manager of infrastructure programmes on behalf of institutional investors and pension funds, has appointed Peter Hofbauer, former global head of infrastructure at Babcock & Brown, as its new head of infrastructure.
The infrastructure fund has obtained €475m of long-term project financing to back two greenfield solar thermal plants.
Burkhard Lohr has resigned from Hochtief, following in the footsteps of chief executive Herbert Lütkestratkötter. His resignation is related to ACS’ eventual takeover of Hochtief, as its holding in the German firm approaches 43%
The fund is to provide more than £22m in loans this month, after which its capital will be fully invested. London-based Gravis expects to tap the market again later this year for a fresh round of fundraising.
Funds specialising in infrastructure investments have tripled in size since 2007, according to a report from Deloitte. And despite competition from direct investments, the amount of institutional money invested in infrastructure funds ‘will grow steadily over the next few years’.
Bad memories of structured investment vehicles and a pricing mismatch between the underlying loans and the margins investors were demanding are said to have ultimately derailed the bank’s efforts to securitise £1.5bn of PFI loans.
First-quarter 2011 figures show a growing disparity between the increasing number of infrastructure funds in the market and a decline in the amount actually being raised. While more than $85bn of fresh capital is being sought, only just over $2bn was closed in the opening three months of the year.
Herbert Lütkestratkötter is retiring and will leave the company on May 12. His successor, Frank Stieler, has the blessing of major Hochtief shareholder ACS, which already owns more than 40% of the German company ahead of an eventual takeover.
To catch investor attention, funds need to differentiate themselves, think smaller, cut fees and have management teams with a track record in the space, writes Bruno Alves.
The international law firm’s Paris office has recruited Christophe Asselineau as a partner from Simmons & Simmons to bolster its energy, mining and infrastructure practices in Africa’s emerging markets.