Bruno Alves
EUROFIDEME 2, a greenfield fund sponsored by Natixis Evironnement & Infrastructures, has reached financial close for France’s biggest solar project. Caisse d’Epargne Provence-Alpes-Corse and Société Générale provided €90m in debt to help close the deal.
HSBC has started the sale of its UK rolling stock leasing company, for which it is seeking around £2bn. JP Morgan, Macquarie and UK-based investment firm Star Capital are all said to be interested in the sale. Teasers are already out with expressions of interest expected in late March.
Global Infrastructure Partners’ Michael McGhee said at a conference yesterday that the fund was planning to issue bonds later this year to refinance a short-term loan it took out when it bought Gatwick airport for £1.51bn last year. The issue would be done in Gatwick’s name, not GIP’s.
New South Wales has scrapped a A$5.3 billion contract to build a metro link in Sydney, part of which was being procured as a PPP. The project is the second Australian PPP to collapse this year - following Lane Cove Tunnel - and the country’s fourth PPP to fall over the last decade.
Aviva, the world’s fifth-largest insurer, has joined the likes of AXA and Allianz in backing an infrastructure fund, through its partnership with Hadrian’s Wall Capital. The team plans to launch an infrastructure debt fund that could reach one billion, split equally between pounds and euros.
Hochtief’s board of directors has approved the Hochtief Pension Trust’s decision to sell its three percent stake in the German company, worth just over €100m at yesterday’s share price.
The fund and its toll road vehicle, Itinere, are analysing several opportunities in the US, Australia and other OECD countries with a view to making a toll road investment this year.
The UK government is said to be planning the creation of a state-backed investment bank targeting infrastructure projects with cheaper capital and small businesses. Germany’s KfW could serve as the model for the bank, which could be announced in this year’s budget.
French rail agency RFF and a VINCI/AXA Private Equity-led consortium have finally reached financial close on the €1bn GSM-R rail communications PPP, after several months of delays. The deal is France’s first rail PPP but is unlikely to serve as a template for the other high-speed rail deals being managed by RFF.
The long-running sale of ACS’ ports division – which had revenues of €114m in 2008 – appears to be nearing its conclusion.