Restrictions imposed by monoline lender MBIA are forcing a Brookfield-related holding company to issue UF 326,000 (USD 11.4m) in additional notes to pay additional dividends, according to a Feller Rate rating release. The decision to raise new debt on the holdco led Feller Rate to put Brookfield Americas Infrastructure Holdings Chile I on ‘negative

Diode Ventures and Enfinite Capital are preparing to sell equity and raise debt for a solar project near Tainan City, Taiwan, which is upwards of 120 MW in size, according to three sources familiar. Controlled by Kansas-based firm Black & Veatch, Diode Ventures provides turnkey asset development solutions on renewables. Enfinite is a US-based

A pair of combined-cycle gas turbine power plants in the Northeast have filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The two plants, Athens (994 MW) in New York; and Millennium (335 MW) in Massachusetts, are owned by Northeast Gas Generation, LLC, a subsidiary of Talen Energy.  Read More

Singapore's Keppel Corporation and Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have agreed to look at the feasibility of building hydrogen-powered plants to supply data centres in the city-state. One of the projects that could benefit from the plant is a proposed floating data centre park (FDCP) in the eastern part of Singapore, Keppel said today

A Meridiam and FCC consortium has been selected as preferred bidder for the GBP 500m A465 road, the first Welsh scheme to be procured under the Mutual Investment Model (MIM). The Welsh government notified the bidders of their selection on Thursday (18 June) evening, two sources close said. Read More

Plenary Infrastructure Philadelphia (PIP) has been selected to DBFOM the Philadelphia 30th Street Station P3, Amtrak announced on 18 June. The consortium is composed of Plenary Americas, Gilbane Building Company, Johnson Controls Inc., Vantage Airport Group, AOM, Arora and AKRF. Read More

Spanish utility Iberdrola is poised to make an off-market takeover bid for Infigen Energy after entering into a bid implementation agreement with the Australian renewable developer. Iberdrola today announced the AUD 86 cents per security cash offer from its Australian subsidiary, that values Infigen at AUD 840.6m (USD 577m) and is a 54.2%

Credit rating agency S&P today downgraded Melbourne, Wellington and Christchurch airports, labelling as negative their outlook and that of four others at Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Sydney. It reduced the rating for Melbourne Airport to BBB+, outlook negative from A-minus, which was the highest in Australia. The airport is held by Australia

Mexican renewable project developer REPSA is seeking a joint venture partner to develop a renewables platform in the country, according to a source close to the situation. The San Luís Potosí-based developer has a portfolio of in-development solar and wind projects, with a combined capacity of approximately 350 MW. The purpose of the joint venture

The shareholders behind London energy-from-waste (EfW) business Cory Riverside are considering bidding as a consortium for Wheelabrator Technologies’ portfolio of UK assets, in a move that would give them unrivalled incinerator coverage in southeast England. The consortium, Semperian, Fiera, Swiss Life and Dalmore, which has not yet hired

Fifteen large infrastructure projects in Australia worth about AUD 72bn (USD 49bn) will be fast tracked to help the country recover from the pandemic, Prime Minister, Scott Morrison said today. They include the AUD 10bn (USD 6.8bn), 1,700km Inland Rail from Melbourne to Brisbane, the AUD 3.5bn Marinus Link - a second undersea electricity interconnector

Singapore’s Minister for Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing said in a speech yesterday that the city-state remains committed to developing infrastructure projects, including a new terminal at Changi Airport, despite the coronavirus crisis. “We will press on to build our infrastructure to reinforce our position as a choice hub for business,

Mitsui de México has mandated Morgan Stanley to sell its stakes in six gas-fired power plants in the country, according to three sources familiar with the situation. The sources could not provide a timeline for the sale process. Read More

Investors are lining up to vie for a major Portuguese motorway concession set to be sold by an Iridium-backed consortium, sources said. PSP Investments-owned ROADIS, Portuguese infrastructure fund TIIC, and DIF are considering submitting separate non-binding bids for the Baixo-Alentejo highway PPP in southern Portugal, said the sources close

Two bankers have left the project and infrastructure group at Investec in New York. They are Ren Plastina, who led Investec’s cleantech and public infrastructure financing activities; and Parag Patel, who joined from the project finance group at Societe Generale in 2018. Read More

HSBC has agreed to finance a China Railway Construction Corporation-led consortium's project to build a 145km railway line in the United Arab Emirates. The lender has structured and financed a USD 558m package for the project, which is being built by a joint venture between CRCC and National Projects Construction (NPC), according to an HSBC

After more than a decade, global developer Mainstream Renewable Power is selling the business as growth in Asia and offshore wind takes off. But the location of its projects and having almost 10GW still under development may spook certain buyers. David Craik and Colin Leopold report In Irish mythology Danu is the Mother of all Gods, associated

John Holland has created a new major projects division for infrastructure work in a shakeup of its business in Australia and Asia, it announced today. The Chinese-owned Australian builder said also that its operations in South East Asia would refocus on delivering existing projects and review its ongoing investment. A spokesperson said

AES Gener is seeking an equity partner for a Chilean renewable energy investment platform, according to two sources familiar with the process. Local financial services firm LarrainVial is advising AES Gener on the search for an equity partner for the platform. Read More

Morrison & Co is expected to pick a buyer for its Public Infrastructure Partners Fund I (PIP I) before the end of the month, four sources familiar with the situation said. Final bids were lodged at the end of May. Two Korean consortia led by KDB KIAMCO and Korean Teachers Mutual Fund have now been shortlisted, the sources said. One source said

Kuala Lumpur-listed Sunway Construction and French energy firm ENGIE will launch a joint venture to develop district cooling projects in Malaysia, Sunway said yesterday. Both firms are working on the details of the agreement and the official launch of the partnership will take place in the next two months, a spokesperson for Sunway Construction

A mix of Canadian infrastructure investors is vying for the Detroit River Tunnel as the process advances to the second round, said two sources familiar with the situation. DIF and InstarAGF are expected in the mix, said those sources. Axium did not advance to the second round, said a third source. Read More

Transurban has detailed months of claims by the builders of the Westgate Tunnel PPP in Melbourne against it and the state of Victoria, in an injunction against the builders. Transurban WGT Co., on Friday, took action in the Supreme Court of Victoria against a joint venture between CPB Contractors and John Holland that is building the AUD 6.7bn

Bidders are beginning to line up ahead of the sale of Wheelabrator Technologies’ UK energy from waste (EfW) assets in the second half of 2020. First State Investments and Equitix are both organising bids for the mixed operational and development-phase portfolio, which Macquarie Infrastructure & Real Assets first earmarked for sale in February

China's State Power Investment Corp. has pulled out of the bidding for John Laing's Australian renewables business, just days after choosing Standard Chartered as its advisor, according to two sources close to the situation. SPIC is concerned about potential regulatory obstacles, according to one of the sources, who added that the company

Singapore-based Bruce Crane, Managing Director and Head of Asian Infrastructure at OMERS Infrastructure, has quit and is preparing to join Ontario Teachers Pension Plan in a similar role, according to sources familiar with the situation. OMERS employees were informed of the change last week, one of the sources said. Read More

I Squared Capital has launched its third global infrastructure fund with a target of USD 12bn, USD 5bn more than its previous fund’s hard cap, four sources close to the development said.   The Miami-headquartered infrastructure manager, which was founded in 2012 by former Morgan Stanley Infrastructure employees, launched ISQ Global Infrastructure

Melbourne-based Rob MacIsaac, managing director and head of project finance at MUFG, said he left the company last month. MacIsaac was with MUFG for 30 years, including nine years as head of project finance in Oceania. Read More

PJ Solomon has hired a vice president at an investment bank in New York as part of an expansion of its renewable energy investment banking team. The new hire, Dennis Schoeps, is set to join from Barclays on 15 June, SparkSpread has learned. Read More

Brazil plans to tender at least 22 airports in early 2021 and, despite complications in carrying out traffic studies, relaxed bidding rules may attract more financial bidders to the processes, according to four experts. In a late May webinar with bankers, Minister of Infrastructure Tarcísio de Freitas said that he wants to stick to the government’s

The lenders underwriting US infrastructure fund manager KKR’s acquisition of UK waste business Viridor have this month launched a syndication of the debt, according to sources. BNP Paribas, Societe Generale and UBS have underwritten around GBP 2.5bn of KKR’s GBP 4.2bn acquisition price for Viridor, which it agreed to pay in March 2020 and is

Peruvian government’s promulgation of a law suspending toll fee collection during the country’s state of emergency has lead one concessionaire to consider taking the country to court. One of the highway concessionaires is considering arbitration over Law N. 31018, which the Peruvian government promulgated on 7 May, according to Verónica

The Argentine government will seek to rescind six highway PPP contracts due to their failure to obtain financing, according to Public Works Minister Gabriel Katopodis. “In our government, public works are the engine of industrial revival and a tool of the state to improve the real life of Argentines. They [PPP concessionaires] did not comply with

OMERS Infrastructure Management has sold part of its equity in VTG, as it continues its dual mandate as a manager of both third party and captive pension fund capital, sources said. The investment management arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System has sold a minority portion of its roughly 15% stake in the German train wagon lessor,

Global renewables titan China Three Gorges has finally announced a USD 3.5bn IPO in Shanghai, after years in planning. What does the move mean for its international M&A ambitions, asks Celine Ge   The world’s largest hydropower producer China Three Gorges wants to complete an IPO of its renewable unit and is considering the

Infrastructure funds have been shortlisted in GTT Communications’ sale of its European telecoms infrastructure subsidiary, with some bidders considering selling some of the division’s assets if they acquire them, sources said.   Macquarie Capital, Wren House Infrastructure, I-Squared Capital and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners were shortlisted

Apollo Global Management, Inc. has hired Andrew Kirby, an investment director at AMP Capital in New York, as part of the continuing build out of its infrastructure equity investment platform. Kirby is joining the US fund manager's dedicated equity infrastructure unit in New York as a principal this week, after spending close to 5.5 years at AMP

South Korea's IS Dongseo and E&F Private Equity have been named preferred bidders for a waste and waste-to-energy business owned by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, according to sources close to the situation. The winning bidders for Green Energy Holdings propose to pay just over KRW 500bn (USD 410m) in equity for the business, giving it

South Korea's IS Dongseo and E&F Private Equity have been named preferred bidders for a waste and waste-to-energy business owned by Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets, according to sources close to the situation. The winning bidders for Green Energy Holdings propose to pay just over KRW 500bn (USD 410m) in equity for the business,

Spanish developer Abertis and Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC closed the acquisition of a 72.3% stake in a Mexican highway network, according to a 5 June press release. The European-Asian consortium has paid close to EUR 1.5bn (USD 1.7bn) to acquire Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners I and II’s combined 70% Series A holding in

Canadian Solar was engaged in talks earlier this year to sell its manufacturing business to Shanghai Electric before the discussions fell apart over pricing, according to three sources familiar with the matter. Chinese state-owned Shanghai Electric - a power generator and electrical equipment maker - had previously sought to buy solar manufacturing

Former Carlyle co-Head of Global Infrastructure Investing Andrew Marino has emerged at Generate Capital, according to the company website. Marino joined last month as a senior managing director and head of strategy. Read More

Faced with an aging population and corporate earnings under pressure due to COVID-19, Japan is doubling down on plans to develop and export super-sized smart cities across Asia. But investors there are finding no easy answers to the problem of monetization, reports Hiroyuki Kachi By the Takeshiba waterfront in downtown Tokyo, where cruise ships

Orsted has hired Paula Torres, an originator at TrailStone Group, as a director of origination in Austin, Texas. The move follows the appointment at Orsted last year of Brent Phelps, a senior power trader in Chicago who was previously at Evergy; and Melissa Peterson, v.p. of origination and power marketing, who joined from Apex Clean Energy. Read

Partners Group suffered a 4.5% net loss on its private direct infrastructure investments in the first four months of the year due to the COVID-19 crisis. The Swiss private equity firm said in a statement on Wednesday (3 June) that it earned a negative internal rate of return (IRR) of 4.5% on its USD 13bn direct infrastructure investment portfolio. Read

UAC Energy, part of the Philippines’ Ayala Group, today said that it will make an on-market takeover bid for the Australian renewables developer, Infigen Energy. The all-cash offer is priced at AUD 0.80 per stapled security, valuing Infigen at AUD 777m (USD 539m) and a 43.4% premium to the one month-volume average weighted price of AUD 0.56,

Royal Dutch Shell has formally started a sale process to sell a stake in shared gas assets at Queensland Curtis LNG’s gas export terminal in Australia. Financial adviser Rothschild sent out a flyer - seen by Inframation - earlier this week confirming the 26.25% interest in “common use facilities” on offer. The assets include LNG storage

Infrastructure fund-backed energy-from-waste (EFW) business Cory Riverside this week reported a modest rise in EBITDA for 2019, but warned that it has been processing less waste than budgeted this year due to the coronavirus lockdown. The business, which is backed by infrastructure funds Dalmore, Fiera Infrastructure, Semperian PPP Investment Partners and Swiss

Expecting a challenging scenario for raising capital from abroad, Brazilian infrastructure fund managers are strengthening ties with local investors, three sources close to infrastructure investment funds said. The sources, who declined to be named, expressed concerns about global competition for international capital as governments worldwide express

China’s Dr Peng Telecom & Media Group is looking to develop new data centres with additional funding from domestic and foreign institutional investors.  The company, the largest private-sector broadband services provider in China, said it has reached a deal with private equity firm Jinquan Yuanhe Investment Management to co-invest more than

The Atlantia-controlled operator of Nice Airport, France’s largest regional airport, has been hit by a double setback – plummeting traffic due to COVID-19 and a massive tariff drop. With its loans close to maturing, what can it do to survive the turbulence? Nick Krause and Stefano Berra report European airports have seen passenger numbers drop

New South Wales will redirect AUD 800m (USD 538m) from a cancelled stadium refurbishment to start a new AUD 3bn fund to build smaller infrastructure projects, it was announced yesterday. Dubbed the Infrastructure and Job Acceleration Fund, it is another initiative aimed at quickly recovering about 200,000 jobs that were lost in the state during

Santander’s head of project and acquisition finance for the UK, Ireland, and Scandinavia Alejandro Ciruelos will step down after 14 years at the Spanish bank, to be replaced by Bart White.  Ciruelos will leave as the head of the London-based team in the coming weeks along with Javier Jimenez, who is a director in the 15-strong project and acquisition

A Mexican CKD fund managed by asset manager Riverstone Holdings has completed the acquisition of an 80% stake in two solar PV plants, according to a 1 June press release. Riverstone CKD 2 acquired the 106 MWp Andalucia II PV plant located in Coahuila and the 38 MWp Aguascalientes Sur I PV plant located in Aguascalientes from Spain’s Opdenergy

Macquarie Capital has opened an office in Santiago, Chile, according to three sources familiar with the situation. Macquarie Capital, which has yet to invest in Chile, has appointed Juan Miguel Custodio as Managing Director for the office. Custodio has worked in Macquarie’s London offices as an Associate Director since 2011 and before that worked

  Wind Power AS, a subsidiary of Norway's Equinor, has decided not to pursue the acquisition of YPF Luz’s 122 MW Cañadón Leon wind project in Argentina, according to a 28 May market filing. The filing does not mention the current status of the project or the future steps that YPF Luz is taking to develop the asset, otherwise known as

Blackstone Infrastructure Partners (BIP) made a series of recent moves to bolster its ranks, including hiring Adam N. Kuhnley as managing director, said two sources close to the situation. Kuhnley was formerly a principal at ArcLight Capital Partners and has 13 years of energy finance and private equity experience. Read More