September 2011 Issue

The Spanish government wants to net at least €10bn from the privatisation of airports in Madrid and Barcelona. But a high price tag and upcoming elections in November suggest the privatisation might be a bumpy ride, writes Bruno Alves

Portugal was Europe’s third-largest PPP market last year. But with all future deals suspended, the hope of salvation now lies in a €5bn privatisation programme, writes Bruno Alves

For PGGM, investing directly in infrastructure meant creating its own €1.25bn infrastructure fund, which is close to being fully invested. But PGGM has other channels into the asset class, too. Henk Huizing, the pension administrator’s head of infrastructure, tells Bruno Alves the story behind its recent developer joint ventures, the circumstances in which he uses traditional GP funds – and why regulatory risk is the biggest risk in infrastructure today

As the infrastructure asset class matures, two quite different types of investment are emerging. Former Allianz Capital Partners chief executive Thomas Putter explains why an understanding of this is so crucial.

Michael Dorrell and Trent Vichie, former leaders of Blackstone’s infrastructure division, have launched their own firm, Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners.

Infrastructure public-private partnerships are still flowing in post-recession Canada but, with state funding tight, municipalities are taking on a more prominent role.

Canada has become one of the world’s leading proponents of public-private partnerships. And arguably the most instrumental figure has been the country’s Minister of Finance, James Flaherty – for which he picks up this year’s Infrastructure Investor Minister of the Year award.

Infrastructure debt funds have been a talking point for a while, but with little in the way of tangible achievement on the fundraising trial. And then along came Westbourne Capital.

Beset by debt crises and stalling economies, institutional investors are grasping for lifelines. Infrastructure, while not immune from the challenges of the day, can nonetheless offer a relative safe haven.

A regional planning agency has acquired the remaining lease on California’s South Bay Expressway, which went bankrupt last year. It’s not the agency’s first dealings with the toll road.

The EIB hopes that its project bond initiative will help it step back from the prominent lending role it has assumed following the global financial crisis. But the new initiative may originate another cycle of EIB-dependence.

In a research report, a leading Swiss investment group recommends investing in real assets and companies.

The Treasury Select Committee, a parliamentary body, suggests the government might buy up PFI debt and equity post-construction.

Proposals to reauthorise surface transportation lending have highlighted the TIFIA lending programme as a way to support PPPs. How TIFIA has emerged from the South Bay Expressway bankruptcy is crucial to this.

After retroactive cuts to its subsidy regime announced last year, the previously popular Spanish solar photovoltaic industry looked set to disappear from GPs’ radars. Now investors are now warming to the sector once more.

A recent survey highlighted the attractive aspects of infrastructure investing against a backdrop of stagflation. But is this really something to celebrate?

As more institutional investors buy infrastructure assets directly, they will be hoping that their risk/return calculations pay off.

Following the closing of the €7.8bn Tours-Bordeaux high-speed rail line, Eiffage and rail agency RFF have secured financing for the €3.3bn Bretagne Pays de la Loire line. But the latter has a fundamentally different risk profile than the former, which is highlighted in the financing.

The point of a new study into US high-speed rail possibilities is to identify ‘what’s real and what’s imaginary’.

New York’s Tappan Zee Bridge is due for an upgrade. But don’t count on changing the bridge’s locale, unless you want to uproot Lady Liberty first.

Poland’s second-largest city is taking the concept of public-private partnerships onto new territory through its plan to build a cemetery with a little help from the private sector.

Not content with eradicating the public-private partnership to refurbish the London Underground, Mayor Boris Johnson is now going after legal advisor Freshfields.