Bruno Alves
Investors in one of Henderson’s infrastructure funds are threatening litigation over mismanagement, while Henderson denies legal liability. Bruno Alves reports on the fallout
The consortium has beaten competition from another team led by Allied Irish Bank and Strabag to be named preferred bidder for the M17/M18 Gort to Tuam motorway public-private partnership.
The UK airports operator has almost fully repaid a £1.57bn subordinated debt facility and lowered a £2.2bn bank term loan facility to £1.75bn of outstanding debt. BAA repaid debt using new bank facilities and proceeds from a recent bond issue.
AXA Private Equity, Goldman Sachs and Macquarie are said to have submitted binding bids for the sale of Endesa’s 4,100-kilometre Spanish gas distribution network earlier this week. The deal could be worth over €700m.
Clifford Chance has replaced CMS Cameron McKenna as legal advisers to Henderson on a dispute with several pension funds over the performance of its second infrastructure fund. The pensions have given Henderson until late September to draft a compensation scheme before taking it to court.
Many projects that are eligible for the guarantee – which can cover up to 80% of the debt used to fund public-private partnership deals – have yet to reach financial close. This has led the government to consider extending its application beyond the original closing date of December 31 2010.
Consortia led by Eurotunnel/Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley/3i, Borealis/OTPP and Cheung Kong Infrastructure are all thought to have made it through to a second round of bidding. The sale is expected to net the government between £1.5bn and £2bn.
The Italian toll road operator has successfully raised €1.5bn via two bond issues but received applications from institutional investors exceeding €4.5bn. The funds raised will allow Atlantia to fund capex and meet its refinancing needs through to 2013.
PensionDanmark has teamed up with DONG Energy to acquire a 50% stake in the Nysted offshore wind farm, in Denmark. Under the deal, DONG is providing an operating guarantee to the Danish pension in exchange for a larger share of the operating profits if current price levels increase.
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.