Bruno Alves
Russia’s €5.5bn Nord Stream Gas Pipeline has topped InfrastructureInvestor Assets’ projects league table for the second quarter of the year. It is the second gas project in a row to top the list, which was headed in the first quarter by Papua New Guinea’s $18.3bn liquefied natural gas development.
The Canadian pension has offered to take over the toll road operator – a spin-off from Macquarie Infrastructure Group – for A$5bn. Intoll holds two mature roads including Canada’s 407 ETR. It is CPPIB’s second bid for an Australian-listed toll road operator this year after it failed to acquire Transurban.
The government has launched the tender for the Rio-São Paulo high-speed rail line, set to cost around $18bn. Interested parties have been asked to deliver their proposals by November 29 with the winner to be determined at an auction held on December 16 at the São Paulo Stock Exchange.
Moser, formerly co-chair of Fulbright & Jaworski’s global infrastructure group, has joined rival law firm Bingham McCutchen as a partner in its New York office. He will join Bingham’s energy and project finance group as part of the firm’s strategy of expanding its project finance practice.
Financial services firm Towers Watson said following a recent report regarding pension fund investments in alternative asset classes that investors should pay ‘careful attention to the net of fees proposition, in particular for infrastructure’.
Of the $179bn of assets managed last year by the world’s top 50 infrastructure funds, $109bn - or about 61% - correspond to mandates on behalf of pension funds, reports a survey by Towers Watson and the Financial Times. Macquarie manages the largest amount of pension assets of all alternative asset class managers, at $52bn.
The 53km road in the south of Finland is part of European Road 18 and will require capex of €285m. Part of the concession, which will last for 15 to 25 years, will require greenfield construction with the contract to be backed by government availability payments.
The IFC has sold to Mizuho a funded risk participation in US dollars for a portion of an Indian rupee-denominated loan used to finance India’s first electricity transmission project. The deal is expected to pave the way for foreign banks to help fund projects in emerging markets without any need to fund in local currency.
The French brownfield fund has reached final close on schedule at €1.08bn, surpassing its original €1bn target by €80m. Just under half of Cube’s investors come from North America with 33% from France.
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced the government wants ‘to turn aviation infrastructure into a prospective and attractive platform for investment’ following the success of the public-private partnership to modernise Pulkovo Airport.