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AMP buys $74m Australian social infra fund from RBS

AMP Capital Investors has acquired the RBS Social Infrastructure Trust, a $74m fund with a portfolio of four social infrastructure public-private partnerships. AMP said it plans to raise more equity for the fund and enlarge its portfolio with similar assets.

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Australian investor AMP Capital Investors has bought an A$80m (€58 million; $74 million) social infrastructure public-private partnership (PPP) fund from Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), it announced in a statement.

The fund – formerly known as RBS Social Infrastructure Trust and now rebranded as AMP Capital Community Infrastructure Fund – owns four social infrastructure PPPs in Australia and was sold by RBS as part of the bank’s strategy of divesting non-core assets.

“RBS remains committed to the infrastructure sector in Australia through our advisory and financing areas,” the bank’s head of Asia Pacific non-core portfolio and banking, Alun Lewis, said in a statement.

Following the acquisition, AMP plans to raise more equity for the fund and grow its portfolio. Phil Garling, AMP Capital’s global head of infrastructure, said in a statement that “AMP Capital’s flagship infrastructure fund, the Infrastructure Equity Fund, will also take a cornerstone investment in the [new] fund”.

As part of the acquisition, two RBS employees linked to the fund will now join AMP, with AMP’s Julie-Anne Mizzi appointed as the new fund’s portfolio manager. AMP Capital has some A$95 billion in funds under management as at June 30 2010. It has been in the market for 20 years and has a team of 270 people.