The European Investment Bank has launched a technical assistance programme to encourage the use of public-private partnerships across nine Mediterranean countries. The bank wants to get the private sector on board to help fund some €300bn in regional infrastructure investments by 2030.
Strenuous efforts have been made to devise tailored infrastructure fund models. These efforts are not necessarily being rewarded. Here's why.
Swiss-Asia Financial Services, a Singapore-based fund manager with a focus primarily on hedge funds, has officially launched a new infrastructure fund targeting so-called ‘district energy’ assets in China. The fund, which has around €84m in committed capital so far and a target size of €500m, has just made its first investment.
Privately financed infrastructure projects in the UK may have been rated too conservatively according to an infrastructure investment analyst, who calls for a reassessment from the ratings agencies.
Antin Infrastructure Partners, the Paris-based fund manager which closed an oversubscribed debut fund on €1.1bn in September last year, has announced the appointment of Angelika Schöchlin as a partner from private equity firm Terra Firma.
Simon Monk, co-founder of Bahrain-based infrastructure investor Instrata Capital, has left the firm due to family commitments and moved back to London, where he previously advised on high-profile deals for UBS Investment Bank. He is currently considering his options.
Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec has acquired a direct 10% stake in Fluxys G, a Belgian natural gas transmission operator. The deal adds to the Canadian pension giant’s growing collection of stakes in gas infrastructure companies.
Equis Funds Group, which is targeting energy and infrastructure opportunities across Asia, is understood to be in the early stages of raising a debut fund.
The energy investor has raised its largest fund ever at $3.5bn after around nine months of fundraising. The fund was strongly backed by US public pensions.
Investment in energy infrastructure accelerated in the second half of last year, while transport investment slowed, according to full year data from InfrastructureInvestorAssets. Boosting the energy total was the huge Jubail Refinery project in Saudi Arabia.
Parliament has approved a law which will retroactively cut tariffs in the Spanish photovoltaic sector by 30%. Local trade bodies have promised to fight the new law all the way to the European Court of Justice.
The Middle East’s largest private equity firm has launched a joint venture entity with Saudi gateway investment body Saudi Arabian General Investment Authority (SAGIA), to invest SAR2bn in the country across sectors including real estate, private equity and infrastructure.
The UK-based infrastructure fund manager has reached a first close of £70m on its second infrastructure fund, targeting PPPs backed by government revenues. Local pension funds played a crucial role in helping Equitix approach half of its £150m target after three months of fundraising.
2008 was the peak year for the European Investment Bank, when it contributed €3.9bn to help fund European public-private partnerships. Its second-most active year was 2010, with €3.4bn lent to projects across the continent.
CIC is to open an office in Toronto according to a report by CNBC. The office is only the second to be opened by the $300 billion sovereign wealth fund outside of Greater China since its inception in 2007.