Bruno Alves
Property group AMB, Artha Capital, Mexico Retail Properties and Prudential Financial’s Mexican unit will seek to raise about $1.28bn via the Mexican Stock Exchange. State-backed infrastructure fund Fonadin will invest $253m in the funds, with the rest expected to come primarily from local pension funds.
The board of directors of La Caixa will hold its monthly meeting this Thursday, when it may address a buyout of Abertis together with ACS and CVC Capital Partners. If it doesn’t, the deal’s progress will be pushed back by at least another month, until the board of directors meet again in August.
Spain’s €17bn public-private partnership stimulus plan has survived cuts to infrastructure announced yesterday by transport minister Jose Blanco. A list of 12 road and high-speed rail projects that will now be re-tendered to the private sector was also revealed.
Business secretary Vince Cable has positioned infrastructure as a key pillar of the new coalition government’s economic growth strategy and wants the private sector to pay for four-fifths of the £1trn in infrastructure the UK is estimated to need over the next 20 years.
A successful buyout of Abertis would indicate investors are not as wary of toll roads as many may have thought following the financial crisis, argues Bruno Alves.
The private equity firm may go the extra mile to push the buyout through in the face of a reduced debt package. Keeping Abertis’ credit rating at investment grade post-buyout is another concern, with asset sales being discussed to help fund the deal.
The Deutsche Bank-sponsored fund has acquired an 80% stake in Autovia del Camino from Global Via, Caja Navarra and NEC.
The UK rolling stock company has successfully issued a £300m 10-year ‘bullet’ bond and a £500m 25-year amortising bond as part of its debt refinancing programme.
Russia has risen to the top of InfrastructureInvestor Assets’ league table with $12bn of deals closed during the second quarter of 2010 including Nord Stream, Pulkovo Airport and two road concessions.
French rail agency RFF has officially awarded a €7.8bn contract to build and operate a 300-kilometre high-speed rail line connecting the western cities of Tours and Bordeaux.