Bruno Alves
Ferrovial-owned Tube Lines, responsible for upgrading London’s underground rail, has lost a compensation claim of £327m for overruns incurred in works for two of the underground’s lines. The decision is another blow for the PPP contractor, which was told in December that its capex programme for the next seven years was £1.35bn too expensive.
An executive with the world’s biggest rail operator said the company is seeking to separately list two of its units in the hopes of raising up to $3.5bn. However, Russian Railways said there are no plans to sell shares in the company itself.
Shareholders today green lighted Macquarie Infrastructure Group’s proposal to divide itself into two listed groups separated according to risk profile. Riskier assets will now be held by a new fund called Macquarie Atlas Roads with the more mature ones held by new vehicle Intoll.
The A$1.6bn project has become the third major Australian infrastructure PPP to collapse over the last ten years having been placed in receivership. Bond insurer MBIA, on behalf of the project’s bondholders, took the decision after the Connector Motorways consortium failed to pay interest on A$1.16 billion of outstanding debt.
Qatari Diar – fully owned by the emirate of Qatar – has become the second-largest shareholder in French construction company Vinci with a stake of between 5% and 8%. In exchange, Vinci acquires 100% of service provider Cegelec, which is set to add some €3bn in revenues to the French group.
The Southern Way consortium, comprising Bilfinger Berger, Abigroup and RBS, has been named preferred bidder for the €550m Peninsula Link – a 25-kilometre road near Melbourne. The winner will receive availability payments from the Australian authorities.
The €1.1bn fund – formerly known as ABN Amro Global Infrastructure Fund – has rebranded itself as EISER Global Infrastructure Fund following the MBO from Fortis Investments. Chief executive Hans Meissner, the fund’s original founder, talks to InfrastructureInvestor about the buyout and EISER’s plans to launch a second, €1.1bn infrastructure fund.
The fund has increased its total commitments to €275m and welcomed four new investors, including two Dutch pension funds and two international investors. DIF is targeting a final close of €500m in April 2010 for its second infrastructure fund.
Europe’s largest insurance company could double its investments in infrastructure and other alternative asset classes – such as private equity and real estate – to €30bn. The new strategy aims to counteract lower returns on traditional investments.
The Portuguese infrastructure fund was launched in 2008 with a target of €500m. Two years on, the fund has completed its fourth investment but is now targeting a less ambitious €200m. InfrastructureInvestor caught up with CEO Manuel Cary to learn about the fund’s strategy in the wake of the financial crisis.