Morgan Stanley Infrastructure has teamed with Egyptian construction firm Orascom to raise what could be a multibillion investment vehicle.
The Slovakian authorities and a Hochtief/Alpine/FCC/Western Carpathian Motorway Company consortium have reached commercial close for a €2bn section of the country’s D1 highway. The road is the last in a package of three road PPPs originally launched by the government. Financial close is targeted by the end of June 2010.
The Polish government and a Cintra-led consortium have rescinded the PPP contract for a €2.1bn section of the A1 motorway, after they failed to agree on the contract’s economic parameters ahead of a January 22 deadline for financial close. The road will now be built from the Polish government’s budget.
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.
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.
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.
PERE’s Jonathan Brasse reports from the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai.
The Portuguese infrastructure fund was launched in 2008 with a target of €500m. Two years on, the fund has completed its fourth investment but is now targeting a less ambitious €200m. InfrastructureInvestor caught up with CEO Manuel Cary to learn about the fund’s strategy in the wake of the financial crisis.
The infrastructure investors have each acquired a 12.5% stake in the £1.7bn Bart’s Hospital PFI – the UK’s largest hospital PFI. The sellers were the Commonwealth Bank of Australia and John Laing. Both DIF and Innisfree have lately been active in the secondary market for PFI projects.
The Portuguese infrastructure fund has formed a joint-venture with Polish company NDI to hold a 25% stake in the concessionaire that is building and maintaining the northern section of Poland’s A1 highway.
Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the ruler of the Dubai, has created a Dubai Government Media Office to handle PR for the emirate. The move follows strong criticism of the handling of the Dubai World debt crisis.