Indian business conglomerate Reliance Industries has agreed to invest up to USD 50m in a US-based clean energy solutions fund - Breakthrough Energy Ventures II - set up by billionaire Bill Gates and other investors. The fund, registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) earlier this month, aims to raise a total of about USD 870m,

Canadian infrastructure powerhouse Brookfield has quietly slipped onto Sydney Airport's share register with a small minority shareholding.  The trade occurred before Sydney Airport raised AUD 2bn (USD 1.45bn) of equity in August because Brookfield was invited to participate in the entitlement offer, which UBS managed.  Read More

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) - the world's largest infrastructure manager - is planning to launch a global impact fund, according to three sources familiar. The strategy will target a fundraise of approximately USD 1bn and will seek to invest in sectors that enable social and community progress, as well as energy transition, said

Colombian President Iván Duque Marquez has announced that the government is working on a new renewables auction to be held in the country in the first quarter of 2021.  President Duque revealed the plan on 10 November during the inauguration of the Bayunca 1 solar park located in Bolívar.   Read More

Blackstone made a private equity investment in Cheniere Energy Partners back in 2012. Since then, Cheniere has converted Sabine Pass into the first LNG export facility in the US and, earlier this year, Blackstone Infrastructure and Brookfield bought a USD 7bn stake in the company, reports Andrew Vitelli  If one wanted to pick a site to symbolize the

OMERS Infrastructure European asset management specialist Ines Grund has recently left the manager, sources said.   Grund, who held the title of director at OMERS, left the manager due to a “personal reason to return to [her native] Germany”, one of the sources said. She worked alongside a team of senior directors focused on asset management. Read

RBC Trust Ltd, a subsidiary of RBC Financial Caribbean Limited, has committed USD 10m to a fund operated by German asset manager MPC Capital AG. RBC Trust is investing the capital into a Caribbean-listed feeder vehicle managed by MPC to further grow a portfolio of renewable assets, according to a 9 November press release. Read More

Global Infrastructure Partners, Brookfield Infrastructure Partners and CDPQ have formed a consortium to bid in PPL’s upcoming sale of UK electricity distribution network operator Western Power Distribution. It is the second international financial consortium to emerge in the sale. Read More

Enwave Energy narrowed down the field of bidders in its ongoing auction amid an improving outlook for future performance, said two sources familiar with the situation. Brookfield Infrastructure Partners has structured the auction to include bids for both Enwave’s US and Canadian arms together or separately. Read More

The founder of Hastings Funds Management, Mike Fitzpatrick, is raising an AUD 500m (USD 365m) infrastructure fund aimed at individually wealthy investors. The TRUE Infrastructure Fund will use a fund-of-fund model to invest in pools of capital managed by Australia’s Infrastructure Capital Group (ICG) and ATLAS Infrastructure, Fitzpatrick told Inframation

A consortium of Abertis and Manulife Investment Management has agreed to acquire the Elizabeth River Crossing (ERC) concession for roughly 39x its annual EBITDA. The deal was announced on 9 November. Read More

Macquarie Group today reported its first-half earnings, showing its infrastructure and investment banking arms weighed down by slowing M&A completion rates. Net profit for Macquarie Asset Management (MAM), the division that Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets (MIRA) is a part of, dropped 5% on year in the six months through September to AUD 1.06bn

Verdeep Dost, a senior infrastructure staffer at Hermes Investment Management, has left the manager, following news of the recent departure of partner Robert Wall.  Dost, a senior vice president in the manager’s infrastructure arm, left at the same time as Hermes infrastructure partner Wall in a “concurrent” process last month, two sources familiar

An investor group led by Dutch pension fund manager APG is considering launching a debt refinancing of a pair of power plants located in New York City. An investor group led by Dutch pension fund manager APG is considering launching a debt refinancing of the Astoria Energy I and II power plants in New York City. Read More

Investment firm KKR has agreed with a subsidiary of NextEra Energy Inc. to invest USD 1.4bn via two separate transactions to acquire equity interests in portfolios of contracted utility-scale wind and solar assets. KKR will acquire interests in 1.625 GW of renewable energy assets, according to a 2 November press release. Read More

Sydney-based infrastructure investment banker, Joel Chalhoub, will move to Jefferies from Lazard in December, two sources familiar with the situation confirmed. He will work with Tim Foy, Jefferies managing director and head of power, utilities and infrastructure. Read More

Equitix, First Sentier Investors and the investor consortium behind Cory Riverside have submitted first round bids in Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets' sale of Wheelabrator Technologies' UK energy-from-waste portfolio, sources familiar with the development told SparkSpread. Hong Kong-headquartered CKI Infrastructure, which is being advised

Brookfield Renewable Power is putting up for sale a 391 MW portfolio of wind farms in California and New Hampshire and a 137 MW collections of Golden State wind farm projects that should be commissioned in 2022. TD Securities and SMBC Nikko Securities are jointly advising on the sale and within the past few days began approaching potential investors,

Australian financial services company AMP Ltd today said that a bid for the firm by US-based Ares Management suggests an implied value of AUD 1.85 per share, and a price tag of more than AUD 6.3bn (USD 4.4bn). This is a premium to AMP’s share close of AUD 1.53 on Friday, when it surged 20% after a stock exchange filing by the ASX-listed company confirmed

For media-shy infrastructure funds investing in essential services it can be difficult to avoid the spotlight. Recent shifts in society are making it even harder, report Colin Leopold and Katherine Steiner-Dicks  The mainstream media is taking an increasing interest in the media-shy world of infrastructure funds. Read More

Hermes Investment Management infrastructure has lost one of its key personnel, partner Robert Wall (pictured), a year after a management shake-up of the manager and amidst an elongated fundraise.  Wall, who joined Hermes four years ago from CPPIB, resigned in recent days from his directorship of a string of UK companies backed by the UK manager, and

Beijing Infrastructure Investment (BII), owned by the Chinese capital's municipal government, today said it will acquire a German rolling stock company in its maiden overseas takeover.  BII, which specialises in metro projects, said it has cleared all the regulatory hurdles for its investment in LogoMotive Gmbh. The acquisition is part of the Chinese

US private equity firm, Ares Management Corp, has made a bid for ASX-listed AMP Ltd for an undisclosed price, AMP confirmed today. “AMP today confirms that it has received an indicative, non-binding, conditional proposal from Ares Management Corporation, a US-based company, to acquire 100% of the shares in AMP Limited by way of scheme of arrangement,”

两位知情人士称，Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners计划将其首发的全球可持续基金以及第四个基础设施旗舰基金先后结束募资。 上述消息人士补充称，这家总部位于纽约的管理公司预计将在2021年上半年为Stonepeak全球可再生能源基金募资20亿美元，为Stonepeak基础设施基金IV募资120亿美元。 Read

Apollo reached an “initial” close on its second infrastructure fund having raised USD 865m as of 30 September, according to the asset manager’s 3Q20 earnings press release. The fund, Apollo Infrastructure Opportunities Fund II (AIOF II), had so far deployed USD 92m. Read More

Aberdeen’s Latin America-focused Andean Social Infrastructure Fund I LP has received antitrust approval to acquire the Francisco L. Madero Refinery, according to a recently published regulatory filing. The Aberdeen fund will acquire indirect ownership of the asset by purchasing GEPIF II Master Refineries Holding B.V. for an unspecified amount from Global

After dramatic swings in Q1 and Q2, total fundraising volume for the year is only just off the same period in 2019. And following in the footsteps of GIP and Brookfield, four new funds are targeting over USD 12bn, reports Pablo Martinez Much like the infection rates and social restrictions that have characterised the year so far, fundraising volumes in

AMP Capital is planning to bid on the sale of TX Australia’s (TXA) television broadcast infrastructure network, sources familiar with the situation said. Final bids on TXA - owned 50-50 by two of Australia’s main commercial TV stations, Seven West Media and Nine Entertainment - are due at the end of October, although this is subject to change, said

International investors including Canada’s Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Warburg Pincus and Macquarie have participated in the IPO of Philippines broadband provider Converge ICT Solutions. The company raised approximately PHP 29.1bn (USD 602m) from its listing on the Philippines stock exchange, with over 80% of the investment

A financial advisor has launched a sale process for a portfolio of battery storage projects located in the California ISO (CAISO). Guggenheim Securities has launched a sale process for a portfolio of battery storage projects that Able Grid Energy Solutions is developing in the Los Angeles Basin area of the California ISO (CAISO). Read More

Singapore-based Keppel Corporation's data centre unit has partnered with two gas companies for the procurement of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and hydrogen to power a potential floating data centre park (FDCP) project in the city state. Keppel Data Centre and Singapore's City Gas and City-OG Gas Energy Services signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)

A team comprising Plenary and Sacyr has been selected as the preferred proponent for a public-private partnership (P3) concession for the central utility plant at the University of Idaho, said three sources familiar with the transaction. The deal is expected to be finalized by the end of the year, said one of the sources. Read More

European investment manager Plenium Partners and Spanish bank Bankinter are set to put up for sale the assets of their first fund, comprising a gross 581 MW portfolio of renewable generation plants in Spain.  Citi is advising on the sale and recently began sounding out potential bidders, sources familiar with the situation told SparkSpread. Read

Australia-listed renewables fund New Energy Solar has put its two Australian solar farms up for sale following the outcome of a strategic review. The fund's boards today said that the 111 MW Beryl solar farm and the 56 MW Manildra solar farm will be sold, both of which are located in New South Wales. A competitive auction will begin in January 2021

Brazilian bank BTG Pactual has issued preliminary prospectus to raise funds for two new infrastructure investment vehicles, according to regulatory filings. The documents describe the creation of the debt fund BTG Pactual Dívida Infra FIP-IE and the equity fund BTG Pactual Infraestrutura Dividendos FIP-IE. Read More

Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets is in talks to form a consortium with Dutch fund manager APG and Canada’s PSP Investments to bid in PPL’s upcoming sale of UK electricity distribution network operator Western Power Distribution. Macquarie Infrastructure and Real Assets is in talks to form a consortium with Dutch fund manager APG and Canada’s

New York-based Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners Executive Vice-Chairman and co-founder Trent Vichie is retiring from the fund manager on 31 March 2021, said three sources familiar with the situation. His fellow co-founder, Chairman and CEO Michael Dorrell, announced Vichie’s move to investors in a memo yesterday (21 October), two of the sources

Tiger Infrastructure Partners reached a first close on its third infrastructure fund, said a source familiar with the situation. Read More

Taiwan has established itself as Asia’s most sought-after destination for offshore wind investors and opened up other opportunities in the region. But early activity among domestic investors in Japan and South Korea may prove it is a model that won’t be repeated, reports Rob Clow It only took a few key ingredients to get people into a lather about

Australian sovereign wealth manager the Future Fund grew its portfolio by 1.1% to AUD 163bn (USD 115bn) over the last three months, but year-on-year returns stayed in negative territory due to COVID-19. The share of infrastructure assets slipped to AUD 11.28bn, or 6.9% of the total, in the July-September quarter, down 0.2% from a year earlier, according

Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (OTPP) and fund manager Warburg Pincus will jointly invest USD 360m in Singapore-based data center operator Princeton Digital Group (PDG), the latter said in a statement yesterday. OTTP will provide USD 300m, while Warburg Pincus will invest USD 60m, a spokesperson for the fund manager told Inframation. She declined

Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners has agreed to become a majority stakeholder in a newly established global data center infrastructure platform, Global Compute Infrastructure LP, a company spokesperson said on 20 October. Through the West Street Infrastructure Partners III (WSIP III) vehicle, it has made an initial commitment to fund up to USD 500m

Macquarie Infrastructure Real Assets (MIRA) has invested in a Chinese data centre operator in its latest push into the Asia-Pacific digital sector.  The infrastructure fund manager has completed the acquisition of a 50% holding in Guangzhou Bohao Internet Services Company, whose data centre business is spread across northern, southern and southwest

Macquarie Capital will close the acquisition of its first South American road concession on 30 October, after Colombian authorities approved a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the Briceño-Tunja-Sogamoso (BTS) highway, said two sources familiar with the situation. Colombian procurement agency ANI announced on Friday (16 October) that it had approved

Six teams have presented bids for the 19-year, UF 2,944,034 (USD 120m) third Chilean hospital public-private partnership (PPP) bundle, according to a 19 October press release from Chile's Concessions administrator. The teams included bidders from China, Spain, Mexico and a local bidder.   Read More

PPL is progressing with sale preparations for Western Power Distribution (WPD), as investors look to form teams and hire advisors. The New York-listed energy giant wants bidders to sign non-disclosure agreements for the up-to-GBP 12bn sale of the UK electricity distribution network operator (DNO) by early November, with information memoranda (IMs) to

First Sentier Investors has won the auction for John Laing Group's Australian wind farm assets, agreeing to a price of AUD 285m (USD 202m) before disposal costs. The sale price represents a small premium to book value and a return on money invested of 1.5x, according to an emailed announcement from the UK-based infrastructure investor. The sale is scheduled

Brookfield Infrastructure has decided to sell the Dalrymple Bay Coal Terminal (DBCT) via an initial public offer that will value the equity on offer at up to AUD 1.5bn (USD 1.06bn), sources familiar said. The Canadian asset manager will retain a shareholding of between 20% and 40% in the metallurgical coal shipping facility - to be named Dalrymple Bay

Morgan Stanley’s global heads of commodities and commodities trading have left the bank after compliance breaches were discovered regarding the use of non-authorized electronic communication tools, including WhatsApp.  Nancy King, global head of commodities, is retiring from the firm, while Jay Rubenstein is leaving the firm, a source familiar with

Aberdeen Social Infrastructure Fund I has closed the acquisition of the Unidad de Personas Privadas de Libertad N°1 prison PPP in Uruguay The fund, sponsored by UK-based Abeerdeen Standard Investments and co-managed by Colombian fund manager LQA Funds, is acquiring 100% of the 20-year prison PPP from Abengoa (85%) and a joint venture between Goddard

A restructuring of Suez before it can be sold to Veolia has created a thirst in the M&A market for water and waste assets. The case for a new Meridiam-owned water platform is attractive but not without risk, reports Colin Leopold Before a full takeover is approved it is set to pull in many others. Read More

I Squared Capital is eyeing its maiden investment in Australia after being ushered through to the second round of bidding for Australian bus transport operator Kinetic, said three sources close to the process. The New York-based infrastructure manager lodged an indicative bid alongside KKR, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure and Infrastructure Capital Group,

Global Infrastructure Partners has hired Jim Amine, the former CEO of investment banking and capital markets at Credit Suisse in New York. Amine joins GIP as a partner in the firm’s credit and emerging markets franchise, according to a 15 October press release. Read More

An affiliate of Irish developer Mainstream Renewable Power has closed a USD 280m mezzanine construction finance facility with AMP Capital Infrastructure Debt Fund IV.  The mezzanine facility, which is non-recourse to Mainstream, was provided to its Andes Renovables holding company, which owns 1.3 GW of renewables capacity in Chile, according to a 14

Spanish infrastructure giant Acciona expects to rapidly expand its footprint into the Australian market after buying the engineering division of local developer Lendlease, its global chief said today. "Australia is first on our list of countries, and ahead of Spain. With this Lendlease transaction we’ve become one of the key players in the construction

Alternative investments firm IG4 Capital is expanding its scope internationally through new offices in Lima and Madrid, while it prepares to fundraise for a third vehicle, CEO Paulo Mattos told Inframation. IG4 will continue to focus its ‘turnaround’ strategy on mainly Latin American investments, but will start looking for opportunities in regions

BlackRock Real Assets is seeking to sell 90% of its Gretel solar portfolio in northern Queensland, according to a marketing document obtained by SparkSpread. BlackRock has been motivated to sell by the healthy Australian market for renewables, according to a source close. Read More

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has agreed to buy a 216 MWp portfolio of 73 solar PV parks in Spain from Q-Energy, marking its first infrastructure investment in Spain. The sale came after a rival Canadian fund manager Canada Pension Plan Investment Board nixed talks to buy Q-Energy earlier this year, said sources. CPPIB declined to

Enwave Energy is expected to fetch multiples in the 20x-25x range based on surging interest in the name, said three sources familiar with the situation. Bidders have until 29 October to submit preliminary bids for the business. Read More

Guillermo Ortiz, a director in the project finance group at MUFG in New York, has left after a 10-year run at the bank.   Ortiz, who was part of the Latin America structured finance team reporting to Ralph Scholtz, left MUFG this month, according to industry sources.  Read More